Return to the Mirror Universe
by The Spirit of Evil
Summary: Twilight Sparkle and her friends must battle their mirror opposites from another world. A continuation of the Reflections comic ark and "Of King's and Changelings" (fanmade comic). Links to these are provided, but you don't need to read them to understand the story. Better summary on fim fiction. Also, Ditzy is called Derpy.
1. Escape

This story is also on fimfiction under the name "Return to the Mirror Universe". My account on there is The Spirit of Evil.

Check out the Reflections mlp comic ark (just correct the space in the link, fanfiction's filtering system is so annoying):

part 1: readcomiconline .to/Comic/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-is-Magic/Issue-17?id=21210

part 2: readcomiconline .to/Comic/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-is-Magic/Issue-18?id=21211

part 3: readcomiconline .to/Comic/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-is-Magic/Issue-19?id=21213

part 4: readcomiconline .to/Comic/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-is-Magic/Issue-20?id=21217

Check out "Of King's and Changelings" on Deviant Art. Annoying filtering system so again I can't post the link but a quick google search should let you find it.

Now without further ado, on to the story...

* * *

"There is more than one... of Everything."- Unknown

* * *

Twilight Sparkle paced her prison cell, wrapped up in her own thoughts. For the last few months, thoughts were Twilight's only real solace. The room around her wasn't much to look at. Thick grey stone walls surrounded her on three sides, and in front of her was a set of bars that gave her a small view of the hallway outside the cell. Small black lamps were mounted on braziers on the far wall of the hallway, casting shadows into the otherwise dark prison. Pacing had become Twilight's routine, so much so that her constant hoofsteps had left a deep groove in the otherwise smooth floor. Thinking was all Twilight could really do in the squalid prison. Her only other option was to talk to her cellmates, and she found thinking to be far more preferable. As she paced, she heard them arguing behind her, like the incompetent fools they were.

"I hate it here! There's no room to fly!" Rainbow Dash yelled in annoyance.

"Indeed! Being cooped up in the dark like this is ruining my complexion." Rarity remarked as she examined her hooves with distaste.

"Oh please, being in here with you makes things even worse. Whenever they bring us food you always try and sneak some of our portion for yourself!" Rainbow Dash said angrily.

"We wouldn't even be in here if it weren't for y'all Rainbow Dash! Ya rushed in to try and grab the diamond when Twilight told you to wait till she disabled the security magic around it! Ah on the other hand was being a team player." Applejack said as she adjusted her black hat.

"Liar! As soon as the security alarms went off you ditched us and tried to escape while we fought the guards! Isn't that right Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash countered as she looked to her fellow pegasus for support. Fluttershy was sticking her head out of the bars, sneering at every guard that passed. She turned and gave Rainbow Dash an angry look, then went back to what she was doing.

Twilight stopped her pacing as she neared the corner of the cell. Pinkamena was huddled up crying as she usually did when the others started arguing. She pulled out a tissue from her mane and blew her nose loudly. Twilight still had no idea where she kept getting tissues.

Sighing, she pushed her glasses back up to her eyes. She remembered with annoyance that she couldn't magically enhance her vision anymore because her magic didn't work in this stupid prison. The guards had told her it was a spell put on the place by the new Princesses. They had turned good again putting a serious damper on Twilight's criminal exploits... but no more. Twilight smiled as she looked at the line of tallies she had scratched on the wall, marking the days she had spent in the cell. Today her plans would finally fall into place.

"Twilight." Fluttershy called. Twilight turned around and saw a small, purple dragon in a grey trench coat and large shady hat standing outside their cell.

"Spike, right on schedule," Twilight said, "I trust there was no trouble getting in?"

"No trouble at all miss. Most of the guards are off duty, celebrating the festival of Love in the gardens of Canterlot with the rest of the citizens... exactly as you planned." Spike said in his gravelly voice.

"Don't waste time telling me what I already know. Just get us out of here!" Twilight commanded. Spike nodded, and took a big breath in. He released a torrent of green flames on the bars and they slowly melted away until there was a steaming hole as big as a pony's rump. Pinkamena looked up from her crying surprised.

"Hey! Ya didn't tell us about no escape plan!" Applejack said accusingly.

"I tell you what you need to know. Now come on we've got to move." Twilight snapped.

"Woohoo! Free at last!" Rainbow Dash wooped as she flew out of the cell. She was about to rocket down the hallway leaving her companions behind.

"Be quiet you idiot," Twilight hissed, "There are still some guards around." However it was too late. The door at the end of the hallway burst open and five guards rushed in, spears at the ready. They were all buff earth ponies, and Twilight knew there would be no fighting them without her magic. Spike hopped on her back, and she made a run for it to the other end of the hallway followed closely by her cellmates. They reached a small wooden door, which Rainbow Dash tugged at furiously. Locked... naturally.

"Applejack!" Twilight yelled.

"Ahm on it. Stand back!" Applejack bucked hard and the door came crashing down. The guards were seconds away. They angrily yelled "Stop!" and "Halt!" as if Twilight planned to listen. As they quickly entered the room ahead, Rainbow Dash and Applejack grabbed the fallen door and used to barricade the entrance, leaning on it with their backs. The guards outside angrily banged on it demanding surrender.

Twilight saw that they were in some kind of break room. It seemed luck had favored her, and the room was empty. Signs of merriment and fun were visible all around the room. Cups of coffee sat on wooden tables, playing cards were strewn about and the odd comic book lay half read on the ground. To the side a cozy fire crackled warming the hearth. Posters around the room advertised the upcoming festival of Love promising appearances by all of Canterlot's royalty, including the recently rescued King Sombra.

Suddenly a door on the other side swung open, and three guards trotted in deep in conversation. They saw the escapees and immediately took a fighting stance. Twilight noted that one of the guards had a golden badge marking him captain of the guard. The burly earth pony said, "Surrender and return to your cell immediately!"

"Uh oh..." muttered Spike on her back. Twilight saw beside the guards that there was a large bookshelf with a variety of titles. She felt a small stab of regret she wouldn't be able to steal the books and read them at her leisure later. Fluttershy however found a different use for the books. In a fluid movement, she gracefully flew over to the bookcase and knocked it over. The guards yelled in surprise as the bookcase came crashing down on them. Fluttershy laughed with delight as they groaned in pain.

Twilight motioned them onward with a hoof. Rainbow Dash and Applejack abandoned their door and ran after the group. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Rarity grab the captain's golden badge in her mouth as she ran by. Through the door was another hallway of cells. As they ran past, other prisoners whooped and cheered. Their reputation preceded them as the most notorious criminals in Equestria after all. They turned a corner and found a rickety stair case leading up to a trap door. The door to freedom. Applejack gave it a good buck but it didn't budge.

"Darling some things require a little more finesse!" Rarity said as she put the gold star in her mane and pulled out a bobby pin. She inserted it into the trap door's lock and began to pick it.

"Sometimes we don't have time to do things with finesse _Rarity_." Applejack grumbled. "And I think this is one of those times." Twilight saw she was right. Three of the guards that had pursued them before now leveled spears at them. Twilight assumed two of them had stopped to help the hurt captain and his companions.

"You're not going anywhere! Put your hooves up or we'll have to use force." the middle guard said with difficulty holding the spear in his mouth.

"But which one of you will get the credit for arresting us?" Pinkamena asked. "I bet your captain will take all the credit. Doesn't that make you... _angry_?"

The guard on the left turned to his compatriot. "You know she's right Ward Holder, he probably will take credit... again. Boastful jerk."

"Oh please Iron Bar, we all know _I'm_ getting the credit for this. I'm the ranking officer here." the middle guard replied.

"Now wait just a minute there _Lieutenant_ Ward, I played just as big a part as you! And you got promoted yesterday!" the rightmost pony said.

"Why do you deserve credit Locked Tight? I spotted them first!" the Lieutenant replied angrily.

Twilight couldn't help smiling at Pinkamena's handiwork. She always did have a talent for spreading anger and sadness. Behind her she heard the door swing open with a creak as Rarity finished picking the lock. Twilight quickly ran outside followed by her posse. She breathed in the fresh air, enjoying the sunshine she hadn't seen in months. Years if those stupid Princesses had their way.

She felt her magic come back to her, like a switch flipping on in her brain. Spike hopped off of her back, and she levitated her glasses over to him. Things shifted out of focus for a second, and then shifted back to normal as the vision enhancing enchantment she had used on herself came back into effect.

The guards quickly realized their mistake and they charged outside leveling their spears once again. Now that they were outside however, the guards were no threat anymore. Twilight channeled her magic into a levitation spell. The three guards yelped in surprise dropping their spears, as they found themselves being magically lifted.

The lieutenant squeaked, "No fair..." as Twilight shot stunning spells at the three of them. They collapsed in a heap on the ground. However they weren't home free yet. Twilight heard more guards galloping toward the stairs beneath them. She used her telekinesis to slam the trap door shut, and lock it for good measure.

"Yes we're finally free!" Rainbow Dash said as she did loops in the air, enjoying the ability to fly unrestricted. Fluttershy also took to the air and stuck a hoof out in front of Rainbow Dash. Dash didn't see it coming and tumbled out of control trying to avoid the other pegasus, and ended up crashing into a tree.

As Rainbow got up angrily rubbing her head with a hoof, Fluttershy snickered, "Sorry Rainbow Crash!"

"I'll show you crash!" Rainbow said as she flew toward the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy gracefully avoided Rainbow's clumsy attempts to catch her laughing as Rainbow got angrier. She knew she couldn't beat Rainbow in speed, but she could easily dodge Rainbow's kicks and grabs.

Twilight looked on angrily. She had no time for their antics. Already the guards behind the trap door were ramming it hard enough that it was about to give way. "Get down here you incompetent fools!"

The two pegasi stopped fighting and flew down to Twilight and the others. They knew it was better not to disobey her, as they had seen firsthand what her magic could do. Twilight prepared herself, gathering her magic. Mass teleportation was a tricky and limited spell, but she had spent many hours studying it. It would be enough to get them to Canterlot and away from this infernal prison.

A quick flash of her horn and they all stood in the streets of Canterlot. Twilight felt her magic severely deplete, but with the last of it cast a stealth spell around them. A short while later, they were able to sneak aboard a train back to Ponyville.

Twilight grinned at her fellow criminals. "Well girls, at last the mane six have returned to grace Equestria with our criminal genius. But first, we're going to get even with those Princesses for imprisoning us."

"How in tarnation are we gonna do that?" Applejack asked shocked at Twilight's plan.

"Yeah Twilight they're princesses! Plus they've got Sir Discord, Duchess Chrysalis and King Sombra to back them up! I'm all for getting revenge, but maybe we ought to stay hidden for a while?" Rainbow Dash added worriedly.

"Eh miss Twilight I think they're right. I say we go back to selling back end cider for a while so we can make some bits and get back on our feet." Spike agreed.

"Besides, I bet Angel's eager to see me again!" Fluttershy smiled with malice and rubbed her hooves deviously. Pinkamena simply looked indifferent, looking out the train window at the passing scenery.

"I thought you knew me better than that girls!" Twilight said with mock surprise. "What do you think I am, dense? Of course I have a plan. I believe you've heard of the Tree of Disharmony?"


	2. Darkness

"So the if ahm gettin this right, the four virtues and Chrysalis took the evil out of King Sombra, and put it in a tree?" Applejack asked.

"That's the long and short of it." Twilight said. She lounged on her reading couch and continued to study her notes. Now that they had reached their hideout, her true plans could finally be set in motion. The hideout was a small unnasuming brick house in Ponyville, with one way windows so the residents of the quaint little town wouldn't be able to see that the most wanted criminals in Equestria were hiding in their midst. The mane 6 had furnished their residence lavishly in a simple fashion, as suited to their whims and needs. A set of hammocks hung from the ceiling where Rainbow Dash lazed, watching her moustached turtle, Tank, slowly crawl toward her. Rarity's section of the house sparkled with precious jewels, small trinkets and other valuables she greedily squirreled away or had managed to charm from their previous owners. The newest addition was the solid gold captain's badge glittering on her desk that her cat, Opal, played with. Applejack kept her section sparse, except for a few books on pony phscology (which Twilight had already read) and bluffing. A few photos of her family were plastered on the walls, Applejack's favorite being one of her sister Applebloom pushing a classmate named Diamond Tiara into a mud puddle, with an orange pegasus and Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle laughing in the background. Her dog, Winona was outside, growling maliciously at any passerby who gave the house so much as a glance. Fluttershy on the other hand, kept her pets inside, mostly so she could "play" with them. A miserable looking Angel bunny struggled with a leash that clung tightly to his furry body. The other animals were too scared to help, and mostly just stayed in their cages unless Fluttershy called/threatened them. Twilight liked to think she kept her section organized. At least, as organized as a full-time magic reseacher could be. Her space was strewn with notes and books, along with complicated devices that did anything from taking measurements to reading minds. The latter sadly was still highly unpredictable, as when it tried to read Pinkamena's mind it immediately short circuted. However the most important notes were levitating next to Twilight as she conducted their meeting at the center table, which they used for anything from playing cards to planning a new scheme.

"Gilda, the virtue of Temperance, Trixie, the princess of Humility, Derpy, the virtue of wisdom and Sunset Shimmer the virtue of altruism." Rarity counted off stacking some bits from her coin purse with her magic. "Four more ponies -and griffin- we'd have to contend with in your ghastly 'revenge against the Princesses' plan.

"Yeah really I'd rather get back to causing some mayhem like we used to! Half the time I feel like I'm too cool to hang out with you losers anyway." Rainbow Dash added as she lazily munched on a hay bar.

Twilight was starting to get annoyed with their doubts. Her plans were full-proof. They always were, until some stupid random variable like Rainbow Dash threw her a curveball she couldn't account for. She levitated the hay bar out of Rainbow's grasp and tossed it in the trash.

"Hey I didn't finish that!" Rainbow whined.

"I'm not talking about making a few bits _Rarity_ , or simple mayhem like usual. I'm talking about real POWER!" Twilight said the last word with emphasis and desire. The true reason she studied magic, or teamed up with these half brains was to gain the power she deserved as the most intelligent pony in Equestria. Unfortunately she hadn't gotten the type of attention she wanted, and ended up being arrested when she should have been put on a pedestal for her intellect. "Those fools cured Sombra thinking they had gotten rid of the problem, but they didn't get rid of the evil energy, they AMPLIFIED it. Once we gain the power from the tree, we'll be unstoppable, the most powerful beings in all Equestria!"

Fluttershy raised a hoof. "I for one am all for it. With that kind of power, we could really ruin alot of ponies' lives!" She grinned evilly, licking her lips in anticipation.

"That don't sound too bad... maybe I could finally make Equestria appreciate the beauty of a good bluff." Applejack said hesitantly.

Pinkamena sighed and chimed in, "I approve." Everyone turned to her in surprise, and she just shrugged. Pinkamena rarely approved a mission, instead just going along with whatever the others had planned. When she did suggest a mission, it usually ended up bringing a lot of grief to many, many ponies. Last time they had gone on a Pinkamena mission, they had caused a drought to the entire town of Appleoosa by corrupting the water supply. Pinkamena said it would improve their cider sales, which it did, but Twilight saw many crying fillies and families, aching with starvation and desperation. While Rainbow Dash and Applejack sold their black market cider, Pinkamena had just stood in the streets and... watched... the misery and heartache of the residents. She didn't seem to enjoy it (Pinkamena couldn't enjoy anything, Twilight had learned from experience), but she had a spark of... justification... in her eye, as if she was proven right about something. Twilight was so creeped out and disheartened by the experience that she couldn't bring herself to repeat the plan again next year.

Twilight pushed aside her thoughts for the moment. Pinkamena was up to something, but she would figure out what later. "That's four votes for, including mine, and two votes against. The mission is approved!" She slammed a hoof down on the table, indicating the decision was final.

"Oh fine... where are we going oh fearless leader?" Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically.

"The Everfree Forest." Twilight answered, her mind already whirling with possibilities.

* * *

One stealthed train ride, and a mass teleportation spell later, Twilight found herself staring up at the Everfree forest. The tall trees made for an intimidating presence, and cries of animal life punctuated the silent atmosphere.

But Twilight knew they had nothing to fear. The forest was well lit and ordered according to her research. They would have no trouble from the wildlife either, as most animals stayed well clear of Fluttershy if they could help it. The ones that fell under the sway of her intimidating stare were to be pitied immensely.

Twilight motioned the group forward, and they began trotting into the embrace of the giant trees. Sure enough the forest was as pleasant as Twilight had read, with plenty of sunlight filtering in through the tree canopy and only the occasional tittering of a one bird far away. At one point Twilight heard the growl of a grizzly bear turn into a yelp.

Fluttershy smirked and said in a singsong voice, "Oh Mr. Bear! Where are you?" Twilight heard a frantic thumping sound as the bear bolted for its life.

Later into their journey, Rainbow asked for the 50th time (Twilight counted), "Are we there yet?"

Twilight would've normally ignored her like all the other times, but felt that number 50 deserved something special. She channeled her magic and with a sudden yell of surprise Rainbow found herself magically pinned to a tree. "If you ask me that again I'll turn you into a toad. I already told you what we're looking for is at the heart of the forest."

"Okay okay! I'm getting splinters here!" Rainbow Dash complained. Twilight released the pegasus and kept walking.

"Ahm actually curious about that. Ah thought you said they did this whole 'freeing Sombra' business by the edge of the forest." Applejack asked.

"A reasonable question. Sources of immense magical power that are not living beings tend to place themselves at the center of the nearest wellspring of magical energy. The Crystal Sword for example, locates itself at the center of the Crystal Empire." Twilight answered.

"Um, is it just me, or did the forest start to get a lot spookier?" Rarity commented. "Maybe we should've brought Spike after all."

"No, it has to be six ponies for this to work. It has to be six and only six." Twilight reiterated. Spike's presence could bring unexpected changes... unexpected variables, something Twilight didn't like. She did notice that Rarity was right about the forest. As they kept walking, the trees grew dark and looming, sunlight slowly reduced until they were in absolute darkness, and she could here the howls and grunting of creatures she guessed she would not want to meet. Behind her she heard stumbling and cursing as the others tried to navigate in the dark. With her magically enhanced vision she had no trouble seeing in the dark, but for her companions' sake she lighted her horn, illuminating the path ahead.

Suddenly, alarms started blaring all around her. "Drat! I must've activated a ward that's supposed to detect magic!" Twilight panicked. "HIDE!" The pegasi naturally flew up into the trees, Rarity with her slender form was able to hide behind a tree trunk, and... Twilight thought she blinked, Pinkamena seemed to step out view for a second and suddenly not be there at all. Twilight quickly cast a spell of invisibility around herself, leaving only a confused Applejack looking around desperately. Suddenly there was a rustling ahead of them, and four armor clad guards stepped out. Twilight cursed her lapse in judgement. Of course the Princesses wouldn't just leave the tree unguarded. Twilight could only watch as the guards approached Applejack.

Thinking quickly, Applejack started cowering on the ground, tossing her hat to the side. "Oh please don't hurt me!" she wailed.

"Who are you! What are you doing this deep in the forest?" one of the guards asked authoritatively.

"Ah was travelin' with my family but we got separated! Please I just want to go home." Applejack cried convincingly.

"A likely story! The ward detected an intruder." the guard said.

"But look sir, it's kinda dark, but I'm pretty sure she's got no horn, or wings. She's an earth pony, how could she have set off the ward?" a younger sounding guard asked.

"Hmm alright you make a good point. Take her home then, we'll keep searching the perimeter. The other patrols will be around in case your family turns up miss."

"Oh thanks sir! Ahm a might grateful." Applejack said sweetly. The guards gave her a quick nod and left her with the younger guard.

"Come on then miss, lets get you home. Say, we never did get your name." the guard said casually.

"Applejack." she grinned.

"Apple- wait a second aren't you-" he was cut off by a swift stunning spell from Twilight.

"Well I have to say Applejack, your lies actually saved our rumps there." Twilight said sighing with relief. Applejack grinned as she dusted off her hat.

The ponies continued on (Pinkamena seemed to reappear once the guard were dealt with), until they found their path blocked by a ferocious chimera. The snake tail hissed, "Our lunch hassss arrived!"

"Delicious!" the tiger head growled in agreement.

"I'd prefer cheese." the goat head said. The mane 6 backed up fearfully. Twilight shot a stunning spell at the chimera, but it simply bounced off.

The creature laughed, "That won't work missy, our hide is as tough as any magic you can throw at us." the tiger head mocked. The chimera advanced growling menacingly.

Suddenly Twilight saw Fluttershy gallop in front of them, coming face to face with the hybrid creature. She stared furiously at it, locking her eyes in a death stare. The chimera stopped advancing, and started clutching its eyes in agony. "P-Please stop! I'll do anything please!"

Fluttershy walked over to it and began gently stroking its head. "There there, now I know you'll leave us alone, because if you don't I'll-" The next part was so sickening that Twilight was tempted to retch. The chimera ran off, with Fluttershy kicking its flank for good measure, laughing.

"Wow that was... amazing Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash said in wonder.

Fluttershy giggled, "Sometimes all an animal needs is a little taste of cruelty until they see things my way." As they continued on, it seemed to Twilight that nothing could stop them. Pinkamena managed to turn the local tribe of Antelope against the guards. Rarity managed to steal a river serpent's gem right from under him, leaving him frantically searching for it while they stealthily crossed to the other side.

Finally, they reached a dead end. The path ended, and the foliage around them was so dense that even Twilight's light spell couldn't show most than a foot ahead of them. "NO! It's got to be in here!" Twilight said dismayed.

"Looks like you were wrong Twilight. Again. I'm outta here losers." Rainbow Dash tried to stretch her wings, but the dense shrubbery of the forest prevented it. She shrugged and trotted off in a random direction.

Twilight was furious. Not only had her plans failed and they were trapped in a wild forest, now even if they found the tree it wouldn't matter because they wouldn't have six ponies. All her research had told her that six was key to gaining the tree's power. Suddenly she heard a yell from Rainbow through the foliage.

Twilight brushed aside her thoughts and pushed through the foliage, followed by the other four. She saw that Rainbow had fallen into a clearing. In front of her, was a massive red tree, with wicked black thorns and vines growing around it. It pulsated with throbbing magical power, so much so that Twilight could feel the evil energy radiating off of it. They had finally found it. The Tree of Disharmony.

"So um, what do we do? How do we get the energy?" Rarity asked.

Twilight, for the first time in her life, said, "I dunno..." The rest of the ponies joined Rainbow Dash in the clearing, who was simply staring in awe at the pulsating tree. Twilight shot a bolt of purple energy at the tree, expecting the tree to connect with her innate magical ability. Instead, the bolt was reflected back as a dark black stream of energy. It hit a nearby tree, causing it to wither and die. So much for that idea.

"Ah dang nabbit. We find the tree but we can't even get the energy! Horseapples!" Applejack cursed tossing her hat in frustration. She looked up at her bare mane with disdain and immediately put it on again. Fluttershy kicked the tree angrily. Twilight was about to tell her off, when she noticed a yellow gem on the tree glint with a blinding sparkle. Curious. She looked at the different branches of the tree, each adorned with a separate gem. Five gems, each the same color as one of us. But I know for a fact six was the key number. The history books always associated the number six with magic...

She noticed something curious about the shaping of the bark. In the middle of the tree, the bark had shaped itself into a star... the same as her cutie mark. A smile of realization spread on her face. "Everypony, we have to touch the tree... at the same time Fluttershy." Fluttershy was preparing to kick the tree again. The six ponies all trotted up to the tree and laid a hoof on it.

Suddenly the tree shook violently, causing everypony to back up hastily. As Twilight predicted, the gems on each of the branches popped off, each floating to it's respectively colored pony.

"Ooh a gem, for me?!" Rarity said as she greedily snatched it up in her hooves. The gem glowed and morphed into a locket with the gem encrusted. "An accessory too! How wonderful!" Each pony touched their gem and it morphed into a golden locket with a chain. Rarity tried to grab for the nearest locket besides her own, Fluttershy's, but it emitted a shock and pushed her back.

"Ah'd better put it on ah reckon." Applejack reasoned. As soon as she fastened the locket, her eyes turned white and she was lifted off her hooves wrapped in magical energy.

Twilight grinned widely. "Applejack, for lying in the face of danger, I name you the element of... DECEIT!" Applejack's magical aura glowed orange, pulsating with energy like the tree. Fluttershy rapidly fastened her locket, before Rarity could make another grab for it. "Fluttershy, for scaring away your enemies with the threat of pain and torture, I name you the element of... CRUELTY!" Fluttershy glowed yellow, a harsh, unrelenting yellow, like the sun beating down mercilessly. The others had followed suit, and were now glowing white with magic. "Pinkamena, for spreading anger and sadness to the Antelope when they threatened to stop us, I name you the element of... DESPAIR!" She glowed pink. Twilight thought she could hear the sounds of cries and screams emanating from somewhere. Meh, probably her imagination. "Rarity, for callously stealing the serpent's gem and keeping it for yourself I name you the element of... GREED!" Her glow stayed white, but glowed brighter like a diamond. "Rainbow Dash, for abandoning your companions when all seemed lost, I name you the element of... DISLOYALTY!" She glowed a bright blue.

The center of the tree cracked open, exposing a purple star that morphed into a golden locket encrusted with the star gem. She levitated it to herself and fastened it to her neck. "And for years of seeking the recognition that I deserve... I am the element of... POWER!" She noticed herself being lifted into the air surrounded by a purple glow.

"Together we are a force more powerful than any being in existence! We are THE ELEMENTS OF DISHARMONY!" A wave of magical energy shook all of Equestria, as Twilight Sparkle laughed.


	3. Power

Twilight could have simply chosen to teleport herself and her accomplices to Canterlot castle, but she decided on a more spectacular approach. She drew on the power of her element, expanding a sphere of darkness from the tip of her horn. The locket magnified her power, causing black bolts of energy to shoot out from the sphere. Twilight enveloped everypony in a bubble of pure dark magic.

Above her she noticed that a violent storm seemed to be expanding from the Tree of Disharmony, tearing apart the sky with flashing bolts of lightning. A storm was coming alright. Straight for the Princesses and their pathetic friends. Twilight stomped her hoof and the sphere lifted up into the air, carrying the mane six with it. As they raced over the Everfree forest, Twilight noticed that the storm followed them, expanding further as they flew towards Canterlot.

As they soared over the city, Twilight saw that the place was vibrant with celebration. Heart shaped balloons filled the air, fillies played and lovers embraced. The Fesitval of Love was still in full swing, Twilight remembered. Not for long. She noticed the change immediately, as ponies glanced up at the sky, pointing with fear at the ball of swirling darkness, and the dark ponies within it. They were flying low enough so the citizens could see that it was none other than the mane six, the most infamous criminals in Equestria, who flew over them.

"Don't worry, y'all will be absolutely fine!" Applejack called out reassuringly. She grinned at Fluttershy, who responded with a menacing smile. Her locket glowed with power and bolts of black energy began to rain down on the city. Ponies ran for cover, screaming and crying as the many heart shaped decorations around them collapsed in burning black flame.

"Ooh gems! Mine!" Rarity said in a high pitched voice as they passed over a jewel shop. Her locket glowed and the jewels smashed up through the ceiling of the store in a huge swarm. "In fact... it may be time to accessorize!" The jewels melted together around her body magically forming into a sparkling purple dress adorned with rubies, diamonds and emeralds. "Don't I look just fabulous!?"

Twilight rolled her eyes at her vain companion. Some days she had to tell herself that this was a partnership of convenience, and that she didn't just hang out with these idiots to torture herself. The castle loomed ahead of them, under the only patch of sky that wasn't covered in storm. Throughout the rest of the city, the dark, stormy sky had replaced the clear night sky Luna and pegasi had made for the continuing celebration.

Twilight noticed that the guards were finally starting to fight back, shooting arrows (blunt tipped, those Princesses really were pathetic) and drawing their swords. She flicked her hoof and a bolt of dark magic arced toward the guards. They quickly jumped out of its way, but to their surprise it didn't explode on impact. The disharmonious magic sunk into the ground bubbling with a vile smell. Huge black vines shot out of the ground and started whipping around like tentacles, snatching guards and dangling them by their hooves.

Now that the guards and citizens knew her true power, Twilight didn't wish to waste time. She teleported them inside the castle, right to the throne room. The bubble of energy dissipated, as Twilight immediately prepared for an attack. However no attack came. The throne room was completely empty.

"They're NOT HERE?!" Twilight yelled furiously. She heard hoofsteps from a dozen directions, as guards came rushing in from all sides. To her right, she saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stride in behind their guards, horns glowing. They were wearing white and black dresses respectively, as if they had just come from the celebrations in Canterlot. She heard someone snap their fingers, and to her left Duchess Chrysalis and Sir Discord poofed into existence. The Duchess wore a frilly pink dress, and Discord a black tuxedo. All of them looked very very unhappy.

"You were foolish to come here. I suggest you give up!" Celestia demanded regally.

"Yes, regrettably I do believe you're outmatched madames." Sir Discord said with perfect tact as always. He snapped his fingers and Twilight saw iron cuffs appear on her hooves.

Twilight's locket glowed, and the cuffs melted into black goo. "Quite the contrary," she said matching Discord's light tone, "I believe you are the ones who are _outmatched_." A ring of power blasted outward knocking out the dozens of guards that surrounded them.

"Impossible! Only an Alicorn could have that much power!" Princess Celestia said in disbelief. "Take them down!" Multicolored rays of magic shot toward them from all sides crackling with immense energy. Twilight instinctively braced herself, but found there was no need. The lockets glowed, erecting a shield of dark energy around her and her allies.

"Power? I am the element of power Celestia!" Twilight said gleefully. "Let's see how you like a little prison time of your own!" She channeled her magic, directing the dark energy at the Princesses, Discord and Chrysalis.

"Element of... no NO!" Sir Discord realized too late. The dark magic enveloped the four would-be heroes. They screamed in horror as they were slowly petrified, until nothing remained but four terrified looking statues.

"Ah that was... exhilarating." Twilight remarked.

"We should break them into itty bitty pieces and give them to the citizens of Canterlot as a present!" Fluttershy suggested excitedly.

"We'll get rid of them more permanently soon enough, but I still have some scientific uses for them." Twilight said. "Besides, we aren't done here. If Sir Discord and Chrysalis are here, then those four virtues should be here too. It's just a matter of finding them." Twilight lit her horn and performed a search spell. "Ah there you are..." She stomped her hoof sinking them through the floor to the underground parts of the palace.

"Go Derpy, they're the only ones that can save us now!" Twilight heard a hoarse voice say. It sounded like a Griffin.

"We'll scramble the mirror after you go so they can't follow you." A mare's voice said.

"You should be the one to go your highness." a dry, almost professor like voice replied.

"No I can't Derpy. This auxiliary mirror can only take one pony to the other side. You are the wisest of all of us, if anyone can find a way to defeat these criminals it's you. Now go!"

Twilight finished phasing through the floor and found that she landed in a small cavernous room. The stone walls reminded her uncomfortably of her previous prison. Dim lamps lit up most of the room, but caused the stalagmites and stalactites to throw eerie shadows everywhere. Besides herself and her allies, she saw four other occupants. A blue alicorn with a small silver tiara, a fiery orange mare, an armored griffin, and a grey unicorn with a purple cape and gold crown.

"Ah, the virtues and our _former_ king!" Twilight observed with delight. "Hmmm, but there are only three of you annoying virtues here, where is the fourth?" She looked behind them and saw a rippling mirror.

"Trixie! Scramble the mirror! We'll hold her off!" King Sombra yelled.

"Gee Twilight, looks like they might be able to stop us after all!" Applejack said rolling her eyes.

"Ha, without your fourth member, you don't even stand a chance!" Rainbow Dash mocked.

"It's kind of sad really." Pinkamena noted. "Without wisdom your virtues mean nothing. Temperance is cowardice, Humility is false modesty and altruism is misguidedness."

"Enough!" Sombra shot a ray of silver light from his horn. Sunset followed suit, hurling stalagmites from the ceiling. Gilda the griffon readied her sword and shield, moving into a defensive stance.

Their attacks simply bounced off of the dark energy shield created by the elements. Twilight laughed at their attempt. At her direction a beam of darkness shot from the 6 necklaces toward the attackers.

"Done! I've sealed off the-" Trixie began, cut off as the dark magic flowed over her. When it dissipated it left behind only four silent statues.

"Curious..." Twilight said walking toward the mirror. "This looks like a trans-dimensional mirror." She laid a hoof on the glass experimentally. A red barrier appeared, stopping her from directly touching the glass.

"Woohoo! No goody goody virtues or Princesses to tell us what to do any more!" Rainbow Dash celebrated. "We- I- can do whatever I want!"

"Actually Rainbow Dash, there is a Princess that's in charge now." Twilight remarked casually.

"What? Ah thought we got rid of them all? Cadence is still sitting in Canterlot dungeon... so who?" Applejack wondered.

Twilight stepped forward, her entire body crackling with dark energy. Everypony in the room took a step back, a little unnerved by her power. "Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Disharmony and ruler of all Equestria!"


	4. Crisis

Elsewhere...

"So you see? Even though you both express it in different ways, you both enjoy the art of music!" Twilight Sparkle said cheerfully.

"Oh I guess you're right Twilight. I'm sorry I said I never wanted to perform with you Vinyl." Octavia apologized, holding out a hoof.

Vinyl Scratch didn't say anything, but her smile conveyed that she felt the same. She grabbed Octavia's hoof and pulled her into a tight embrace. Twilight smiled, seeing that her work was done. Ever since she had become the Princess of Friendship, she had made it known that her castle was open to anyone seeking resolution to a friendship problem. Most ponies came thinking that Twilight would fix everything with some kind of grand magic spell, or some sage words of wisdom only a princess would know. However they found that Twilight simply sat them down in her reading room and talked out the problem with them. Twilight had learned a long time ago that, once pointed in the right direction, ponies could solve their own problems a lot better than she ever could. All they needed was a friend willing to listen.

Vinyl and Octavia ended the embrace, smiling at each other with tears in their eyes. Octavia stepped forward wiping her eyes. "We got so caught up in our own music that we forgot about how important our friendship is. Thank you Twilight, I don't know what we'd ever have done without-"

BANG BANG BANG

Octavia stopped mid-sentence, staring at the door. The great wooden doors rattled as the pony on the other side banged on them again and again. Twilight was slightly annoyed, but it wasn't the first time one of her friends had gotten a bit overexcited. Pinkie was the very definition of overexcited on a daily basis.

"Sorry about that." Twilight apologized sheepishly to the two mares. "Probably Rainbow Dash again with some 'awesome' flying trick that I just have to help her out with. Last time my wings were cramped for a week!" Octavia chuckled as Twilight trotted down the hall over to the door. "Coming SHEESH!" Twilight yelled to the pony on the other side. Normally spike would've dealt with the visitor until she was finished, but he was on another week long visit to a Power Ponies convention. She made a mental note to schedule his vacation time a little less sporadically.

Twilight pushed open door, and was surprised to find neither Rainbow Dash nor Pinkie Pie on the other side. Instead, she saw the quietest, shiest mare in all of Ponyville... Fluttershy. Her pegasus friend looked worse than she'd ever seen her. Fluttershy was sweating profusely, tears stained her cheeks and many of her feathers were bent out of shape.

"Fluttershy what-" Twilight began. Before she could finish her sentence, Fluttershy grabbed her hoof and pulled her out the door.

"It's Discord!" Fluttershy wailed. "No time to talk come on!" She took off back toward her cottage, flying at a speed that would've made Rainbow Dash envious.

Twilight gave Vinyl and Octavia a quick apologetic wave, and then took off after her friend. As she flew, she wondered what Discord could've possibly done to upset Fluttershy this much. With the elements of Harmony gone, there wasn't much they could do if he decided to go on another chaotic rampage as he did when he first broke free of his stone prison. However after the incident with Tirek, Discord seemed truly committed to his friendship with Fluttershy. He had proven just how much he had changed, when he risked his life to save her from the changeling hive. Then again, Discord was Chaos itself, the most unpredictable being in Equestria, maybe even the universe. She couldn't put it past him to do something drastic.

As she neared Fluttershy's cottage, Twilight looked around for anything out of place or peculiar. Any evidence of Discord's chaotic powers that might explain things. Everything looked normal, the plants were green and flowering, birds chirped happily and, most importantly, the cottage was on the ground, right side up. If Discord had done anything, it wasn't obvious.

She touched down near the door, and slowly eased it open. "Discord! Where are you?" Twilight called out. She expected the Spirit of Chaos to jump out from behind her in some ridiculous getup, or pop out of her ear and nonchalantly dust himself off, complaining about all the wax he had to get through. No answer came, leaving Twilight more confused than ever.

When she walked a little further into Fluttershy's home, she could hear the distinct sound of crying coming from another room. Twilight followed the sound, carefully making sure not to step on any of the small animals that tittered and squeaked throughout the cottage. After walking through several rooms, Twilight found herself at the door to Fluttershy's living room.

She swung open the door to reveal a shocking scene. In one corner of the room, Fluttershy was bawling her eyes out, her head in her hooves. On the couch was Discord. Or, what had once been Discord. A statue of the draconequus sat on the couch, similing and holding a pink tea cup, the pinkie of the eagle claw up in polite fashion.

Anger immediately swelled in Twilight. She walked up to the statue and stomped her hoof angrily. "This isn't funny Discord! Can't you see what you're doing to Fluttershy? If you really care about her, turn back right now!" The statue didn't respond.

"I- I already tried that." Fluttershy said crying through her hooves. "We were just having our Tuesday tea like usual when all of a sudden he just turned to stone! If this were a joke he- he would've stopped by now. T- Twilight, I think something's really wrong with him! He's gotten sick before, b- but... oh what if I never see him again?!" She collapsed into tears once again.

Twilight was also worried. Not just anything could do this to a being like Discord. In fact, the only things that he had ever really seemed scared of were the Elements of Harmony. She pushed those thoughts aside and laid a comforting hoof on her friend. If she panicked, Fluttershy would only feel worse. She had to remain calm and levelheaded. "We _will_ fix this Fluttershy. Princess Celestia will know what to do. She imprisoned Discord before, and I bet she can get him out now." Twilight assured.

Fluttershy wiped the tears from her eyes. Twilight's suggestion had given her hope, which was exactly what she needed. A look of steel determination replaced any lingering sadness. "You're- you're right Twilight. There has to be a way to fix this. Discord, if you can hear me, we're going to get you free. That's a pinkie promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" As Fluttershy stuck a hoof gently in her eye, Twilight heard knocking outside.

She followed Fluttershy out of the tea room over to the front door she had just entered through. Fluttershy opened the door revealing a disheveled Rainbow Dash, and an exhausted Starlight Glimmer. Well, at least her first hunch had been proven half right.

"Phew, thanks goodness I found you both! Something seriously bad is going on!" Rainbow Dash said as she brushed her feathers back in place. "You weren't at the castle Twi so I was worried something happened to you too. Lucky for me Octavia was there with Vinyl and she told me you'd ran off in a hurry with Fluttershy!"

"And lucky for me, I ran into her... well more that she flew straight into me while I was galloping full speed toward the castle..." Starlight said, panting.

"What happened? What's going on?!" Twilight asked, her chest slowly filling with panic again.

"I was over in Griffinstone hanging with Gilda on a patch of cloud I rigged up, and all of a sudden she just... turned into stone!" Rainbow Dash said frantically. "I just barely managed to stop her from falling and shattering into a zillion pieces!"

"I saw the same thing! Trixie and I were practicing some stage magic, just simple stuff no really powerful spells, and all of a sudden she just kind of... froze up, and turned to stone. I tried everything I could think of: anti-petrification spells, tranfiguration... I even tried to communicate with her spirit but I got nothing!" Starlight added worriedly.

"This can't be a coincidence." Twilight tapped a hoof on her chin. "The same thing happened to Discord, which is why Fluttershy called me here. Let's head back to the castle. Discord's statue should be safe enough here for now. My library might have the answers we need."

After a quick flight back, Twilight and her friends immediately galloped to the castle library. Quickly swinging open the door, Twilight immediately found herself snout to snout with Pinkie Pie. She jerked backward in surprise, tripping over her wings.

"Heya Twilight!" Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly. "So so you're probably wondering why I'm here. Well it all started when I was just a little filly..."

"Uh Pinkie, ah think you'd better just cut to the chase." Applejack said from the room behind Pinkie.

"Oh yeah I guess you're right." Pinkie stopped bouncing and stood aside, revealing Applejack and Rarity were inside the library perusing books. "So I was heading over to bring you some of those delicious zap apple muffins I made this morning..." Pinkie licked her lips dreamily. She grabbed her head with her hooves and shook it up and down. Twilight could swear she heard lose change rattling around in there. "Sorry, anyway, I saw you and Fluttershy flying really fast toward her cottage, as if something was really wrong! So I used all the pony power my hooves could muster and I brought AJ and Rarity with me back here, in case you needed help. Rainbow wasn't around but hey it looks like you found her! Hi Dashie!"

Rainbow Dash nodded at Pinkie, but then hung her head dejectedly. Twilight could tell losing one of her childhood friends was having a big effect on her.

"So something _is_ wrong then!" Rarity said in a concerned tone.

"Something terrible is happening to- why do I hear a buzzing sound?" Twilight asked. The buzzing was like something vibrating, and it was coming from somewhere in the library.

"Twilight I think it's that book!" Starlight pointed at a book in the far corner bookshelf. It was glowing with magic, and was the source of the vibrating noise.

"Is that...?" Twilight wondered as she levitated the book over. The sinking feeling of panic grew worse. Everypony gathered around her as she inspected the book. It was a simple brown leatherbound journal, with a distinctive image of a blazing sun. This was the journal that her friend, Sunset Shimmer, used to communicate with her from the human world. When they had first met, Sunset Shimmer had been a selfish villain who lied and manipulated just to get her way. However since Twilight had managed to defeat her with the aid of the human counterparts of her friends, Sunset had reformed her ways, and had since become a good friend of Twilight's. Looking at the journal, Twilight felt a little guilty for neglecting to talk to Sunset for the past few months. Since the reform of the changelings she had been tasked with maintaining diplomacy with them, doubling her work and cutting her free time in half. Between that and solving friendship problems, Twilight barely had time to keep up her friendships here in Equestria, let alone with another world.

Nervously, Twilight opened the journal to read the latest message.

 _This is an SOS to Princess Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville._

 _Twilight if you are reading this, something terrible has happened to Sunset. We were having a sleepover at my house, when all of a sudden she froze up. Her body literally froze in place, and she hasn't moved for 2 hours. We've already taken her to the hospital. They've never seen anything like it, but they said by some miracle she's still alive. They're trying every medicine they've got, but she's still catatonic._

 _Please, we don't know if this is magical or not, but we have nobody else we can ask for help. If you have anything that can help her, any magic at all, we're even willing to sacrifice if need be. Contact us through the journal if you know why this is happening or how to help Sunset._

 _-Applejack_

Twilight wrote back a message stating that the same thing was happening to other ponies across Equestria, and that she would consult Princess Celestia about it. She told them it was a form of petrification, and Sunset wasn't in danger of dying. Thus she advised them to get Sunset away from the human hospital before they tried something drastic like surgery.

"Sunset Shimmer too?" Starlight asked. "How could the same magic simultaneously affect so many ponies, even ones in different worlds?"

Before Twilight could answer, she heard somepony knocking at the castle door again. She knew there were more important issues at hand, but seriously what was with all the knocking today? Twilight galloped to the door, followed by her six friends. "Sorry the castle is kinda closed, we're dealing with an important situation right now. We'll work on your friendship problem some other time I promise."

"Actually I'm just a mailmare your Highness. Urgent letter from Canterlot." said a mare with a thick city accent. Twilight saw a letter slip through the postal slot onto the floor.

She quickly levitated it and read aloud, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, your presence in Canterlot is respectfully requested by Princess Mi Amore Cadenza due to unfortunate cirumstances..." Twilight trailed off, unable to read the rest out loud.

"What's it say Twi?" Applejack asked with a hint of worry.

"Twilight?" Starlight nudged gently.

Twilight felt her heart become a river of emotions. Her whole world was collapsing around her, so many of her friends gone in one day, just like that. And now this. In a thin, dry, emotionless voice Twilight said, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have turned to stone too."


	5. Advice optional chapter

This is an optional chapter, meaning if you want to skip it, it won't in any way keep you from understanding the rest of the story. However if you do read it, it fits seamlessly in with the rest of the story.

Here's the scoop:

I was writing the next chapter, 'Wisdom', and this was basically the first part of it. However I noticed two problems. One, the chapter was waaayy too long. Two this didn't really add substance to the plot, although it does add another layer to the story. I always feel like the little lessons learned along the way in an adventure are just as valuable as the big one at the end.

Therefore I didn't want to scrap this completely, because I felt like some might enjoy the interaction here. But, I didn't want to force people to read through nonessential details if they don't want to. Now back to the story...

* * *

The train ride to Canterlot was so far the worst one Twilight had ever experienced. During her previous rides on the Friendship Express, she and her friends would crack jokes, solve mysteries or chat excitedly about the events to come. This time, nopony seemed in the mood to talk, including herself. Everypony just solemnly hung their heads, or stared blankly out the window. Many of their close friends were gone, and if they couldn't find a way to free them, they would stay frozen in stone forever. Any of her friends here on the train could turn into a statue at any moment. Her last hope had been Princess Celestia and that had been cruelly snatched away.

Twilight realized there was one pony right here she could ask for advice. "Starlight?" she asked.

Starlight looked up and trotted over. "Yes?"

"You were in this situation before... when the changelings captured every pony. How did you cope? Weren't you scared almost every pony you knew could- you know be gone forever? I- I'm a little scared right now." Twilight admitted.

Starlight thought for a minute. "I was scared too. I am scared now for Trixie. This isn't the first time that this has happened to you though. Were you scared when you fought Tirek?"

"I guess I was a little scared, but I was really determined to save everypony, especially my friends." Twilight said waving a hoof at the other occupants of the train. "I guess I just sort of was focused so hard on stopping Tirek that I forgot to be scared."

"The same thing happened to me. Before I came to rescue you and everypony else, I was totally freaking out. But once I focused on the task at hand, my fear just sort of faded to the background." Starlight said.

Twilight realized her student was right. Every time she had faced a perilous mission, facing Queen Chrysalis in Canterlot, Tirek in ponyville and even Starlight when she changed time, Twilight had had no time to think about her fears, only the mission. This time was no different. Whatever she felt didn't matter, right now she had to put her friends' wellbeing ahead of her fear. "You're right Starlight, I should've done the same thing before. I guess I'm not a very good teacher if I don't know stuff like this..." Twilight said sheepishly.

Starlight put a hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight you're the best teacher any pony has ever had, and don't ever think different. With your help, I've become a better friend than I ever would've on my own." Seeing Twilight still frowning Starlight continued, "You know, somepony very famous once said 'The best teacher is the one who is willing to learn'."

Twilight perked up at that, recognizing the words of her favorite wizard. "Star Swirl the Bearded quote? You really do know me Starlight." They both giggled. Twilight heard the train start slowing as it pulled up at Canterlot Station and immediately grew serious again. It was time for their mission to really begin.

* * *

As she trotted through the streets of Canterlot toward the towering castle, Twilight noticed that the city was just as busy as ever. The hypermodern city never ceased to amaze with its grand shopping plazas, elaborately decorated restaurants and its upper class atmosphere. Nobles dressed in fancy tuxedos and frilly dresses chatted as they went about their shopping. They would all give Twilight a nod or a quick bow as she passed. Most in Canterlot knew that Twilight wasn't really interested in the formalities offered toward a princess, but nonetheless felt obligated to show some sign of respect.

"I must say, I wish we were coming here under better circumstances. This season's fashion in Canterlot is simply divine!" Rarity commented as a noblemare in a sparkling dress passed by with a nod to Twilight.

"Ooh look Rarity, it's Tasty Treat! " Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Hi Coriander!" She waved at a stallion in a waitor's apron who was serving a table of customers outside the restaurant. He waved back grinning.

"They seem to be doing quite well for themselves." Rarity observed smiling.

Eventually they passed the bustling streets of the city, and made their way to the castle gate. Two guards on the other side bowed to Twilight, and opened the gates with a creak. One of the soldiers trotted over from his post, "Princess Cadenza- Cadence is waiting for you in the throne room. It has been sealed off to all visitors." Twilight realized that she was right about the Princess' petrification being kept from the public. She thanked the guard and entered Canterlot Castle.

Normally, Twilight enjoyed being in the castle. Memories would flood back to her of her childhood here with Princess Celestia. Today however those weren't memories she wanted to see. Remembering her conversation with Starlight, Twilight steeled herself and pushed her fears and regrets to the back of her mind. She had a duty and she couldn't let her emotions get in the way of that.


	6. Wisdom

Two guards parted in front of the door to Canterlot Castle's throne room as Twilight telekinetically pushed it open. In the middle of the room were the statues of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Her mentor had the same serene wise look that she always had when in the court room. She was standing upright and staring straight ahead, almost as if she was looking directly at Twilight. Princess Luna was in a lying down position, as if she had been sleeping. It made sense, since she normally slept during the day and watched over the night. Princess Cadence stood beside the statues with her back to the door. The guard she was chatting with pointed a hoof and she turned around.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" she exclaimed, wrapping Twilight and each of her friends in a hug. The Princess of Love looked worse for wear, her normally flawless mane frizzing out with worry. "I came as soon as I got the message that this happened."

Twilight nodded, "The same thing happened to a lot of my friends in Ponyville. Trixie, Discord, Gilda and even Sunset Shimmer in the human world turned into statues."

"Ah don't suppose you know why this happened?" Applejack asked.

"Sadly no, we've tried everything we can think of, but we didn't find out why this happened or how to reverse it." Cadence said, slumping her shoulders sadly.

"It seems odd doesn't it? Gilda, Trixie, Discord they don't really have any relation to each other except that they're our friends. Why were they specifically petrified and nopony else?" Rainbow Dash wondered.

"I think I can explain that."

Twilight looked over to the left side of the throne room. Beside Princess Celestia's throne was a small auxiliary entrance, through which a grey pegasus stepped. She was followed by two armed guards who regarded her angrily.

"I said you had the right to remain silent!" one of the guards said.

"Ah but in common law practice a 'right' is optional for the bearer to use, but required for a prosecutor to respect." the pegasus countered.

"We found her wandering a restricted area of the castle. What should we do with her your majesties?" the other guard asked gruffly.

Twilight took a closer look at the pegasus. The mare had a grey coat, thick glasses and the demeanor of a professor. But her two most distinct features were her cutie mark, and her eyes. Her cutie mark was a pattern of small bubbles and behind her glasses, her eyes faced in two completely different directions. Those were eyes Twilight had seen only one pony in all of Equestria have.

"Derpy...?" Twilight asked cautiously.

"That would indeed be my name Princess Twilight." the pegasus said, bowing slightly.

"You look like Derpy... but Derpy doesn't have glasses... and you certainly don't talk like her." Twilight observed suspiciously. The thought crossed her mind that it could be a rouge changeling, or another shapeshifter. But she remembered seeing this pseudo-Derpy somewhere else.

"I am Derpy, but not the Derpy you know I'm afraid. I'm from the mirror universe where you stopped evil Princess Celestia." Derpy said in her monotonous professor voice.

"Figures mirror Derpy would be an egghead..." Rainbow Dash muttered. She received an elbow from Applejack.

Twilight suddenly remembered where she had seen this other Derpy. "You were on the stained glass windows of Sombra's castle! You were a... a virtue... the virtue of wisdom right?"

"Yes Princess that's right. I have come here from my world seeking your help." Derpy implored calmly. "I can tell you why your Princesses here have been turned to stone, but perhaps it's best if we talk privately?" Derpy gave the guards a nervous glance. Cadence nodded and waved the soldiers away. After they left, Derpy continued, "Our world is in crisis once again. A band of notorious criminals called "the mane six" have somehow stolen the power of Disharmony, the same power King Sombra selflessly absorbed out of our princesses, and used it to defeat all who opposed them. Sir Discord, Princess Celestia and Luna, Duchess Chrysalis, King Sombra, as well as my fellow virtues: Sunset Shimmer, Gilda and Princess Trixie, are now imprisoned in stone."

Everyone's mouth except Derpy's hung wide open. Starlight asked the first question, "Wait, 'the mane six'? You mean that nickname ponies gave Twilight and her friends? Does that mean...?"

"Yes the same. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkamena Pie and Rarity are the most feared criminals in all of Equestria in our world. They've mainly operated in the criminal underworld up till now, committing a list of crimes too heinous and numerous to account. I'm sorry to say Princess Twilight, but they're nothing like you."

"But why are our Princesses and friends statues then?" Cadence asked thoughtfully.

Derpy opened her mouth to answer, but Twilight answered first. "When we first went through the mirror to stop the evil Princesses, we found out that somehow, our realities are connected. Whatever happens there, will be equalized here. And vice versa. Mostly this connection is invisible, for example if our Derpy accidentally messed up something, mirror Derpy here would succeed at the same thing in her world. Sometimes though, when one counterpart comes into contact with extreme magic like petrification, the connection takes drastic measures to ensure things stay equal, like for example petrifying our friends with no cause..." Twilight continued along her line of thought, "In fact, the connection got so bad that it threatened to destroy both our worlds. And that brings me to another important question Derpy. After we defeated the Princesses, we severed the connection between our worlds by destroying the mirror that Star Swirl the Bearded built. So... how are you here?"

"With respect Princess, I believe you forgot one very important part in your explanation. Love." mirror Derpy grinned. "As most of you probably deduced during your first adventure, King Sombra and your world's Princess Celestia fell deeply in love when your princess and Star Swirl the Bearded first ventured into our world."

Twilight's cheeks grew hot. She had left out that detail very much on purpose. "Um... well I hardly thought it appropriate to..." Most of her friends weren't really that surprised, as they had found out about Celestia's secret at the same time as her. However she caught Starlight looking off to the side, pretending not to listen and Cadence trying to hide a broad smile.

"Anyway, in answer to your question Princess, I'll pick up where you left off. After you and your friends went back home, we virtues took it upon ourselves to save King Sombra from the evil he absorbed. We executed a plan to contain the evil within a primordial "Tree of Harmony" that strangely grew downward rather than upward. After raising the tree, we transferred the dark magic out of King Sombra and into it. The magic turned the tree evil and corrupt, but at least our king was free. However he remained unhappy still, unhappy that he would never be able to see the one he loved ever again. Luckily for us, Star Swirl had long ago prepared for such a contingency, knowing that the connection between our worlds might have disastrous results. He created a second auxiliary mirror, that would lessen the connection between our worlds by only letting one pony through and back once a month. It would allow our king and your princess to be together, but keep Harmony intact. At the command of our king, I used it to escape the attack of your counterparts. Despite Star Swirl's good intentions, it seemed that the connection between our worlds was enough to petrify your friends."

"A tree of evil? A tree of Disharmony! Hey, hey Twi, you think they got cool necklace thingies like us?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"You might be right Pinkie. To think... Elements of DISharmony... I never fathomed..." Twilight wondered aloud.

"That is a very likely theory. Our king told me that you had "Elements of Harmony" that could rein in any villain who threatened your world. Possibly the Elements of Disharmony do the same thing in reverse. It explains why two alicorns, a queen and Sir Discord weren't enough to stop them. Perhaps we could use your elements to negate theirs?"

Twilight shifted uneasily, "We don't have the elements of Harmony anymore... but we DO carry the _spirits_ of the elements within us. Of course we'll help you free your world and ALL our friends!"

Derpy bowed, "I am grateful Princess."

"Um I have a question... uh if that's okay with you that is..." Fluttershy whispered. Everypony turned to look at her, surprised. She meekly hid her face in her hooves. "Uh, um how do we get there if the mirror only works for one pony?" She buried her face deeper.

"A very astute question Fluttershy." Derpy said kindly. She chuckled, "You think this is unnerving for you? Our Fluttershy would've twisted my tail into a knot by now!" She continued, "The answer may not be one you'll like. We'll have to strengthen the connection of the mirror. The most we can do without creating a catastrophe is seven ponies. Even that's stretching things. That means two of us have to stay back."

"Derpy should go, she's the only one who can guide any of us through the mirror world." Applejack said. Everypony nodded their head in agreement.

Derpy nodded her head in acknowledgement, "I didn't want to presume, but I thank you for allowing me to fight for my world."

"I'd like to go, if no pony minds." Twilight said, anxiously looking around the room. The situation was getting tense. Nopony wanted to be the one left behind, as they would feel less valuable than the others. Luckily Cadence stepped in.

"I think it's best if you go with Twilight and the rest of the former element bearers here. They stand the best chance to defeat these so called, 'Elements of Disharmony' due to their intrinsic connection to the Tree of Harmony."

Twilight looked nervously in Starlight's direction. "I'd like to go." Starlight began. Twilight held her breath. "But I see your point. We should make the choice that has the best chance of helping our friends." Twilight smiled with pride. Starlight really had come a long way in her friendship lessons.

"I'll stay here in Canterlot and take over for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for now. It'll be hard, but I'll manage." Cadence smiled wearily.

"And I'll gather up the statues in the castle and keep trying from our side to reverse the magic. Zecora might have a potion or two that could do the trick..." Starlight said.

"Very well, then lets not delay any longer." Derpy said getting up. Everypony followed Derpy our of the throne room through the small side door she came in from. She navigated them down many long arched hallways, filled with everything from offices to laboratories. Finally, Derpy stopped at a large door, marked with a shining yellow sun. Princess Celestia's cutie mark. With a gasp, Twilight realized they were going into Princess Celestia's private quarters. Cadence unlocked the door with a flash of her horn, and the group shuffled inside.

Twilight was surprised to see how small and simple the room was. Princess Celestia, ruler of all Equestria, had a room no better than most rooms at an inn. Near the far wall was a large bed, with sun yellow blankets and pillows. A half read book sat on a wooden beside table. To Twilight's left was a practical work desk with a few sets of quills and ink accompanied by some partly written legal documents. A small shelf above the desk had framed photos of Twilight together with her ponyville friends, Princess Luna, and Cadence. The curtains were drawn wide open, letting in the bright afternoon sun. She couldn't help but chuckle as she realized her mentor had probably requested such a simple room, much to the chagrin of her staff.

Derpy flew up to the shelf and gently tapped the Cadence picture. The picture rippled and changed into one of Princess Celestia and mirror Sombra hugging as they smiled at the camera. Twilight heard a rumbling as a section of floor moved away, revealing a passage underground.

"Clever." Cadence remarked. "She hid the passage to her love, behind a picture of me, the Princess of Love..."

Everypony made their way down into the passage, Fluttershy petting a few "adorable" little spiders on the way. After a few minutes walk through the ancient rocky hallways, they found what they were looking for. Twilight recognized the design of the thin purple framed mirror as the same as the one they had used before.

"Alright." Derpy said. "We need as much magic as possible to make this work. Unicorns, prepare to shoot an enlarging spell at the mirror on my mark!" Twilight stepped forward horn at the ready, and saw Rarity, Cadence and Starlight do the same. "Ready... NOW!" Twilight channeled all her power toward the mirror, joining her beam of magical energy with the three others. The mirror began to glow and a large portal crackled out of it. "Stop!" Twilight cut her magic and saw the beams of energy disappear as her friends did the same.

"READY EVERYPONY?" Derpy yelled over the crackling of the portal. They all nodded their assent. Starlight and Cadence backed away, waving their goodbyes. "On three! ONE... TWO... THREE!" Twilight jumped into the roaring vortex of energy. She thought she heard Cadence yell something, but she couldn't hear it over the noise of the portal.

Going through a portal was not pleasant business. Twilight felt herself being stretched and twisted like a filly's plaything by the magic that connected the worlds. She closed her eyes desperately waiting for it to end. Fortunately, while the ride wasn't fun, it was quick. Twilight felt herself land on a smooth tiled surface. She opened her eyes, and found that, instead of an underground passage, she was looking at a white wall. Around her she could hear the groans of her companions as they got up, recovering from the portal experience. Twilight pushed herself to her hooves and looked around at the room they'd landed in. The room was entirely white painted lit up with lamps along the walls. Beakers and technology littered the floor marking the room as a laboratory. In fact, Twilight noticed, the room was an exact replica of the lab in Canterlot Castle. She looked at the mirror they had just come out of and noticed that it was connected to several tubes and wires running across the room.

"Where did we- " Rainbow started. A huge wailing sound cut her off, forcing everypony to cover their ears. Twilight realized they must've activated some kind of security ward.

"NO!" Derpy yelled. "They must've found a way to change the arrival location! We were supposed to arrive out of Sir Discord's statue outside city limits! We'll have to make a run for it!" The door to the lab burst open, and a few dozen guards burst in, spears at the ready.

"Hooves up! You're outnumbered!" one of them yelled. Twilight noticed that their eyes had a greenish tinge to them. Mind control.

She lit her horn ready to fight, but paused when she heard a familiar voice outside. "Oh, oh you've got them surrounded? Are you sure? Um, uh there's really absolutely no danger if we go in right?" Twilight discerened the voice of a stallion... a stallion she knew. "Um n-no of course I'm not questioning her. I'm captain of the guard just like she ordered see? And um, as captain I order that uh you- you go in first okay?" the stallion commanded shakily. The guards stopped pointing their spears, and suddenly snapped to attention. Two burly brown earth ponies entered the room and stood to the side, also at attention.

A trembling white unicorn stallion timidly trotted into the room. He had a dark blue mane and tail, contrasted with several stripes of lighter blues. His cutie mark was a small blue shield, with tiny stars above it, and a large purple star in the middle. "Is- is it safe?" He whimpered.

"Shining Armor...?"


	7. Reflections

Quick author's note, the prefix M- will be used to distinguish the mirror characters. For example, M-Twilight is the opposite Twilight. Now back to the story...

* * *

"T-Twilight?" Shining Armor stuttered, the look on his face turning into one of horror. He curled up on the floor and raised his hooves protectively above his head. "Please, wait! I tried to do it right this time, I really did!" he pleaded. Twilight stared at her pitiful brother, and felt her heart break. No... this stallion wasn't her BBBFF (big brother best friend forever), she reminded herself. The real Shining Armor was back in her world, keeping watch over the Crystal Empire. He would never cower in the face of adversity, and was always ready to put himself on the line to protect others. Still, she couldn't help but feel sorry for this warped mirror version of Shining. In some crazy, cosmological way, they were still related after all.

One of his earth pony body guards whispered something into mirror Shining's ear. He visibly sighed in relief. "Oh uh okay then. Next Twilight said to... bring them to the throne room!" he remembered excitedly. The guards moved in and began arresting her friends.

"Let me go you uncouth brutes!" Rarity whined as she struggled.

"Back off!" Rainbow warned menacingly, taking a fighting stance. Twilight saw her friends were eager to fight back, but she quickly decided now was not the time. First, they were in a lab, and a fight might easily cause any one of the experiments to explode or destroy the mirror, their only way home. Second, Twilight hoped that their counterparts would be in the throne room, and she could end things quickly and decisively.

"No wait! We'll go." Twilight said in a defeated voice. Derpy's mismatched eyes widened in understanding and she gave Twilight a small nod. The others seemed confused, but trusted Twilight's judgement. Reluctantly, Rainbow lowered her hooves and Rarity ceased her barrage of insults toward the guards.

"You will?" mirror Shining went from looking frightened to confused. His bodyguards frowned at him, their green eyes glinting. "Uh I mean, of course you will!"

Twilight and her friends were herded out of the lab, encircled by the guards as mirror Shining Armor and his two massive earth pony body guards led the way. The mind controlled guards marched at a steady pace, their heads staring blankly forward, paying Twilight and the others no mind, except for the occasional shove if one of them was too slow. They trotted down several small hallways with several small wooden doors that mostly seemed uninteresting, but the odd door had a sign like, "Fluttershy's Animal Experimentation Facility" or "Applejack Propaganda Printing Room" that made Twilight cringe. She was just thankful Fluttershy was looking the other way when they passed the former.

"Looks like they've already started making changes... and not the good kind." Derpy whispered. Twilight nodded worriedly.

Ahead of them, pseudo-Shining glanced backward at them nervously. Twilight quickened her pace, trying to catch up to him. The two earth ponies immediately blocked her, shaking their heads. "I just want to talk, I'm not going to hurt you." Twilight said in a reassuring tone.

Hesitantly, he waved a hoof and the guards stepped aside, watching her intently with their unblinking green eyes. "You-you're not going to hurt me? But... you're another version of her aren't you? Aren't you mad? When she's mad she-" he cringed a little bit.

"Well, being captured isn't a hoot, but that doesn't mean we're going to hurt somepony. Besides, you seem like you don't really want to be here. If you're so afraid, why are you doing this?" Twilight asked, genuinely sorry for him now.

"Where else would I go? I can't do anything for anypony. I'm useless, they all said so." He drooped his head sadly. "Besides Twilight isn't so bad, at least, she's better than Cadence was. She only uses her magic on me if I do something wrong."

Tears brimmed Twilight's eyes. This truly was the opposite of her brother. Rather than a proud and honorable stallion, determined to protect those he cares about, this Shining Armor was beaten and broken down by those he cared for most. He only knew fear and cowardice, nothing else. "You're not useless, Shining Armor. Nopony is." He didn't respond, instead turning away sadly. Twilight slowed her pace, moving back to her friends. Fluttershy laid a hoof on her back and smiled in approval.

There was a great creaking sound as two large doors in front of them swung open. They entered the grand hallway, leading up to the throne room. There was a collective gasp as they saw the statues lining the sides. On one side of the room were statues of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, almost indistinguishable from their counterparts back home except for their ceremonial headdresses and eye markings. Beside them was a statue of Discord... in a suit with a monocle? Even in an alternate universe in statue form, Discord was still confusing. He was joined by a statue of a much gentler looking Chrysalis, with almost grandma like glasses, and hearts on her wings. On the other side of the room were statues of Sunset Shimmer (in pony form), King Sombra, Gilda in full battle armor, and an alicorn version of Trixie.

"It's so creepy... they look just like our friends!" Pinkie exclaimed, shivering.

Applejack facehoofed, "That's what they're supposed to look like Pinkie."

"That's so not cool..." Rainbow Dash said, unnerved by the statues.

"And just look at those windows, how tacky." Rarity added. Rainbow Dash gave her a slightly annoyed look, but Rarity was still looking up. Twilight saw that the stained glass windows of the four virtues had been replaced by windows with enhanced depictions of each of their cutie marks. The only different one was Pinkie Pie's mark, which had a popped balloon over two whole ones. Twilight's star mark was in the middle, depicted shining with a harsh purple light.

"We're here." mirror Shining said in a quavering voice. They had reached the end of the hall, and stopped in front of two ornate jeweled doors. His horn glowed and the doors swung open, leading into the throne room. Twilight trotted forward, unsure what to think of what she saw before her.

When Derpy had described their counterparts, Twilight was half expecting to see shadowy smoky monster ponies. However the ponies before them looked... almost exactly like they did. Mirror-Fluttershy held a bunny by a tight leash (mirror-Angel?) and moved her hoof up and down, directing some very scared looking animals to dance for her amusement. Applejack's counterpart wore a black hat instead of a brown one, with a black scarf to match. She sat on the steps leading up to six thrones, playing cards with a very annoyed mirror-Rainbow (who looked exactly like Rainbow Dash except that her rainbow mane had _slightly_ darker shades). Pseudo-Rarity had on a sparkling black dress, and sat on her throne counting hundreds of bits with greedy excitement. On the throne next to her, mirror-Pinkie (Twilight decided to call her Pinkamena, because she looked like that creepy fan drawing a colt asked Pinkie to sign a few months ago) dejectedly read a book on dimensional physics. Her hair hung limp instead of poofy, like Pinkie's did when she was sad. Finally there was her own counterpart. Mirror-Twilight sat on the tallest of the six thrones, levitating several papers in front her. A glittering black crown adorned her head, but that was not the detail that stuck out most to Twilight. Pseudo-Twilight was a unicorn, _not_ an alicorn. Twilight guessed that that might give her an advantage, as opposed to the other important detail she noticed. Around the necks of each of their counterparts were gold-black lockets, encrusted with gems matching the host's respective color. The Elements of Disharmony.

When they entered, the counterparts stopped what they were doing and stared, mouths agape. Mirror-Twi was the first to speak, "Ah good bring them forward! You actually did something right for once Shining Armor. Now get out of my sight." Pseudo-Shining galloped out of the room as fast as he could. Once he was gone, parallel Twilight continued, "He really is pathetic isn't he? Always was since we were foals... but no matter. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Disharmony."

"You're no princess! You're not even an alicorn!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Mirror-Dash (Twilight was tired of thinking Mirror-X again and again so she decided just M- would be enough to distinguish) snorted with laughter at that.

M-Twilight's face flickered with anger "Quiet! I rule all of Equestria, just as Celestia and Luna once did. I am just as much a princess as they!" She put her hoof to her chest and breathed deeply a few times. "But we don't need to introduce ourselves do we? You already know who we are as you _are_ us. Really Derpy this was your plan? Bring in our goody goody counterparts from another universe, just like Sombra did? Oh yes I know all about that, how you turned the two princesses good, putting a damper on all my plans. But no more. I wanted to see you all once before I throw you in Canterlot dungeon. We'll see how long it'll take Fluttershy to make you unscramble that mirror Derpy. Once you do, we'll be the rulers of TWO Equestrias!"

"No. You won't. You're going right back to Canterlot Prison where you belong!" Twilight yelled defiantly.

M-Twilight laughed. "You speak bravely for someone who's surrounded by the entire palace guard." Twilight thought she heard Pinkamena mutter 'irony'. Pinkie Pie giggled a little bit. Great, almost as bad as when Pinkie cloned herself. "Spike! Take these interdimensional interlopers to the dungeons."

A side entrance to the throne room opened, and a small purple dragon with green spikes ran in. M-Spike looked over at Twilight and her friends, raising his eyebrows. "Well ain't that a surprise..." he said in a gravelly voice. He turned to M-Twilight and bowed, "Right away milady!"

"NOW TWILIGHT!" Derpy yelled. Twilight's horn glowed, and a ring of purple magic burst out. The dozens of guards surrounding them instantly dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"WHAT!?" M-Twilight screamed in shock.

"The thing about mind control spells... they're awfully fragile. Even Discord couldn't control us for long. These guys'll wake up with a small headache in a few hours, which is more than enough time for us to overthrow you." Twilight explained.

M-Twilight scoffed, "We'll see about that. Take them!" The counterparts adopted a fighting stance.

"For Equestria!" Derpy cried. There was a tense moment of silence. Then... battle began.

There was a rainbow flash as M-Rainbow and Rainbow Dash zoomed toward each other and clashed in midair. Applejack and her counterpart bucked themselves off the ground, tackling each other. They rolled to the side of the room, each fighting to pin the other pony down. Fluttershy quaked in fear as M-Fluttershy advanced menacingly toward her. Twilight just had time to place a protective magical circle around her friend before M-Twilight shot a ray of magic at her. Twilight rolled to the side, dodging. M-Twilight jumped off her throne, looking extremely angry.

Twilight shot a beam at her opponent, and it was met halfway. The beams pushed against each other, their casters channeling all their power. This was where Twilight expected her alicorn status to help her. She drew on her extra reserves of magic, temporarily converting her pegasi and earth pony magic into unicorn power. However to Twilight's surprise, the beam didn't move toward her counterpart, but rather started inching the other way, towards her. With a start, Twilight realized that there was only one explanation. M-Twilight was using dark magic. Sure enough, the beam inching toward her was black rather than purple. Twilight had studied many fields or magic, but left dark magic well alone. She'd only learned the tiniest amount from Princess Celestia, so that she could interact with dark objects when needed, like in evil Sombra's castle. The vile magic was fueled by anger and hatred and too much use would change the user's soul. Dark wizards had been known to become decrepit monsters over time after decades of using dark magic. However the fact remained that it was more powerful than regular magic, and Twilight couldn't win a direct contest.

She broke off the beam and ducked M-Twilight's attack. Twilight changed her strategy, shooting a beam at her opposite, and then moving to another spot. She pranced around, using well practiced magic dueling footwork to avoid her opposite's attempts to get her into another direct clash. Moving around also allowed Twilight to look around the room and see what her friends were doing. Rainbow Dash and M-Dash fought at super speed, using the extra space granted by the high ceiling to try and out maneuver each other in the air. They did loops, twists and turns, their hooves clashing at odd intervals. To her left Applejack and her opposite were in some sort of standoff staring each other down cowgirl style before suddenly bucking into the air and fighting again. Over at front of the room M-Fluttershy had given up on trying to attack Fluttershy directly, as the circle rebuffed all her efforts. However Twilight felt a stab of annoyance with herself, as she realized spell only repelled ponies. M-Fluttershy angrily pointed her hoof, telling her animals to attack. Fluttershy waved her hooves imploring them to be good and not to hurt anypony. The poor animals looked back and forth between the two pegasi vying for their allegiance, not knowing what to do.

Twilight stepped to the right, dodging another blast. Her counterpart tried something new, tossing her crown toward Twilight and shooting a spell at it in midair. It transfigured into a timberwolf, which hungrily snapped its jaws at Twilight. Thinking quickly, Twilight shot a purple line of magic at the wolf. The magic twisted in the air and transformed into a rope, tying the wolf's forepaws together, slowing it down as it snapped at its bonds. Twilight blew upward cooling her horn. In the brief second she looked up, she though she saw Pinkamena and Pinkie Pie standing upside down on the ceiling. She glanced up again and saw nothing. Must've been her imagination. Yeah. Behind her, Derpy dodged blasts of fire from Spike, droning on about how the magical physics of Twilight and her friends being here actually worked. Twilight thought it was fascinating, but Derpy's lecturing was slowly putting the baby dragon to sleep. Meanwhile over to her right, the two Raritys weren't fighting at all, instead having a heated argument about fashion.

"Come now dear that dress doesn't match your mane at all! I've tried black and it simply _doesn't_ work, and well, you're me! If you'd just give it here I could make a nice scarf for you instead." Rarity offered.

"NO! This is my dress! Mine! I stole it fair and square!" M-Rarity snapped.

"Alright suit yourself." Rarity sighed. She telekineticly grabbed one of the curtains beside her and used a cutting spell to snip off some fabric. "Just a few more adjustments and... there! A snazzy scarf if I do say so myself!" Rarity exclaimed as she curled the red scarf around her neck.

"That's my scarf now!" M-Rarity grinned, snatching the scarf with her magic.

Rarity thought for a second, "Hmm alright, but I'd like a few bits in exchange please."

"Those are my bits! Nopony else's!"

"Don't you think my creativity is at least worth a few bits darling? I'm very generous, how about just two bits for the scarf?"

"Oh please, I don't have to pay for fashion tips from a rube like you!"

"I'll have you know that I, Rarity, am one of the most fashion forward mares in all of Equestria thank you very much!"

"And I Rarity, am the most fabulous jewel thief Equestria has ever seen, thank _you_ very much!"

Twilight sighed... the interaction between generosity and greed was both amusing and annoying at the same time. She lunged forward, dodging another bolt of black magic. The bolt melted the floor, turning it into smoking goo. Another stunning spell sparked from her horn, but it was no use. All her spells simply collided with M-Twilight's black shield. The wolf finally snapped its bonds and pounced at her. Twilight used telekinesis to redirect the timberwolf, so it collided with M-Twilight's shield. With a yelp the wolf splintered apart, and the shield shattered, causing her opponent to step back surprised. M-Twilight's entire body was smoking as the dark magic came off of her in waves. She panted heavily in exhaustion, and Twilight knew she couldn't continue for much longer. The downside to dark magic, was that it exchanged longevity for power. Both mares knew this, and knew that one way or another this would end quickly.

M-Twilight stomped her hoof and yelled, "It's time to end this! GATHER!" The rest of the M-Mane 6 (except Spike who was fast asleep) ditched their engagements and gathered around her. Their lockets glowed with power and dark energy started gathering around them.

"Alright girls! It's time!" Twilight motioned a hoof. They ran to her side, already knowing what need to be done. They hugged each other tightly, believing in the power of their friendship. Together, they yelled it for the world to hear: "FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!"

A purple light enveloped them, raising them into the air, and a giant rainbow shot towards the counterparts. At the same time, black magic crackled around the M-Mane 6, and huge beam of darkness rocketed toward Twilight and her friends. The rainbow and the darkness met in the middle. Twilight could only describe it as... beautiful. Beams of multi colored and dark magic shot out in all directions, creating a stunning light show.

"No... SOMETHING'S NOT RIGHT! BREAK IT OFF NOW!" Derpy screamed over the roar of magic. She was right. Twilight saw the lockets glow ever brighter, and slowly the dark beam started beating back the rainbow. Twilight strained harder, pouring in all the strength she could muster. She saw her friends were doing the same, sweating hard as they concentrated on their element of friendship. Still the dark beam inched closer and closer. "BREAK IT OFF OR YOU'LL BE TURNED TO STONE! TWILIGHT!"

Twilight dropped her concentration on friendship, and used her last bit of magic to cast a repel spell. The purple light faded and they dropped to the floor. The repel spell bounced them backward landing them on their rumps near the door. Twilight saw the dark beam crush the space they had just occupied, spraying bolts of dark magic everywhere. Derpy flew past the beam, landing next to them. "It'll take them a few moments to break out of the spell. We've got to get out of here!"

"I- I can't believe it. The magic of friendship... failed?" Twilight said in disbelief.

Rainbow laid a hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight, Derpy's right, there's no time. We should go now while we have a chance." Leave it to Rainbow to be the logical one. "We should run for the mirror. Maybe we can get more ponies through to help us."

"We scrambled the mirror to prevent them from getting to your world. We don't have time to undo the spell. This way." Derpy flew down the grand hallway, and threw open a small door to the right. They galloped after her, slamming it shut behind them.

Twilight heard a scream of outrage. "THEY ESCAPED?! AFTER THEM!" A heavy thudding sound followed as their counterparts galloped after them. M-Twilight must not have been as exhausted as she thought.

Derpy turned into another passage, and Twilight followed, knocking out two guards in passing. They galloped corridor after corridor and Twilight knocked out guards along the way, with Rainbow Dash giving any she missed a good kick in the muzzle. She performed a sensory spell and found their pursuers weren't far behind. Finally they reached an ancient looking wooden door. "This leads into out into a small yard that connects to the forest. I used to like doing my reading here. Once we get into Everfree the wild magic should interfere with their ability to track us." She opened the door and Twilight got her first look outside since coming to this world. It should've been night by now, but Twilight couldn't see the moon. The sky was a stormy mess, with black clouds fighting over dominion of the few clear patches. This, this was the influence of Disharmony.

Twilight heard the distinct sound of a pony crying outside. She held up a hoof and peeked outside. M-Shining Armor was wiping his eyes with his hooves, sniffling. Twilight tried to duck back inside, but it was too late, he saw her. With surprising speed he galloped toward the door and lit up his horn. A pink shield barricaded the door. Shining Armor's signature shield spell. Rainbow banged at the shield, trying to muscle her way through. It was no use, Twilight knew. Shining Armor's shield spell couldn't be countered magically, or physically shattered. The only way to get rid of the shield, was either for Shining Armor to get tired, or drop the shield himself.

"Please, let us go! We're the only chance for both our worlds!" Twilight pleaded.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know what my sister would do to me if I did that?!" Shining Armor yelled over the storm.

Applejack stepped forward, "She ain't your sister, at least not from what ah seen. Rarity?"

"Definitely not." Rarity agreed.

"What the hay do you mean? Of course she's my sister!" Shining argued.

"No, she ain't. Rarity and I are sisters. We have sisters. This is kinda our thing. Sisters are kind. Sisters care. Sisters support you, help you, love you. They're always there for you. Like Twi's been for us." Applejack said flatly.

"She's right. My brother, your counterpart from out world is a brave warrior. But he isn't brave for no reason. He's brave because he wants to protect those who love him, who care about him. He fights to protect his friends, his family and his subjects. Is she any one of those things? Has she really been your sister?" Twilight asked. The hoofsteps behind them were getting closer.

"Why would you care? You aren't my sister either!" Shining countered uncertainly.

Twilight stepped up to the shield facing him. She looked down with sadness, "You're right, I'm not your sister. I'm the sister you should've had. But maybe, maybe we can be friends?"

Shining thought for a moment. Tears stung his eyes as he no doubt replayed the awful past. The shield flickered and dropped. He held a hoof out to Twilight. "Friends." he offered, smiling.

It was the smile of her brother, a smile Twilight hadn't seen in a long time. Twilight pushed aside his hoof and hugged him. "Guess what doofus, whether you like it or not we ARE technically related. You're my brother and always will be."

Shining smiled wider, but his expression turned serious when the thudding sound returned, only seconds away. He gently parted the hug, "You should go." Twilight hesitated. "Go NOW!"

"Come with us." Twilight pleaded.

"I'll be right behind you. Go." her brother said sternly. His tone was off...something wasn't right.

"Come on Twi." Applejack said softly. "All our friends are still counting on us."

Reluctantly, Twilight galloped out the open door into the courtyard and the rest of her friends followed. The forest was only a few yards away. She turned her head back and Shining Armor was still standing at the door. He waved a hoof and yelled over the thunder, "Tell your Shining Armor... I was brave today." He turned back to the door and put up his shield. There was a bang as their pursuers finally burst into the room they had just left.

"NO!" Twilight began to gallop back.

"Twi no silly. Wrong way!" Pinkie grabbed Twilight and turned her around. Twilight tried to resist but her grip was abnormally strong.

Over the storm she heard M-Twilight scream, "Let us through you dolt! They're getting away!"

Faintly she heard Shining Armor say flatly, "You really ARE a terrible sister Twilight." The forest was just a few feet away. Twilight turned her head one last time, and saw a dark beam of light emanating from the doorway. The last thing Twilight Sparkle saw before being engulfed by trees, was her brother being turned to stone.


	8. Plans

Twilight Sparkle was exhausted. Ever since she had confronted those meddlers from the other universe, she'd been working in her lab almost nonstop for the past 24 hours. Her encounter with them had shaken her to the core. She'd barely managed to beat them and counted herself lucky that they didn't have Elements of their own. To add to the insult, they had escaped into the forest, and turned Shining armor against her. Not that she cared much about the latter, he was more useful as a decorative statue anyway. No what really got her peeved was the insult thrown at her before the fight.

"Not a real princess. Fools. I'm the Element of POWER! I am far more deserving of the title of princess than some weakling stage magician." She shot the Trixie statue in the corner a dirty look. The statues of Celestia and Luna stood beside it, hooked up to several wires and measuring devices.

Twilight's thoughts were interrupted as the lab door swung open. Her five fellow elements trotted in arguing heatedly. For some reason Twilight couldn't place, tensions had risen between the members of her little gang at an alarming rate the past few days. Rarity accusing Applejack of stealing her bits, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy arguing about 'who started it'. Pinkamena looked as solemn as ever, simply staring off to the side of the room. Twilight stomped her hoof three times to get their attention. When that didn't work, she zapped the pony who was speaking loudest, which happened to be Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?!" Rainbow complained, rubbing her singed wing.

"Why'd ya call us here... _Princess_?" Applejack asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'll have you know that I was putting the finishing touches on my tower of bits. The capstone won't build itself you know!" Rarity said looking annoyed.

"This will be well worth our time I assure you. Thanks to my research and brilliance, we are one step closer to achieving ultimate power!" Twilight raised her hooves dramatically. Nopony even blinked.

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, "Uh Twilight, we already rule all of Equestria, and we have the most powerful weapon in world. Even King Tirek the Kind has surrendered, proving nopony can stand against us. I'd pretty much say we _already_ have ultimate power."

"For once you've actually made an intelligent point Rainbow Dash." Twilight patronized. "You're right, we have all the power and wealth anypony could want. But how long will it last? I hate to play Pinkamena's role here, but the truth is eventually we'll grow old and pass on to the great starry void. And I have no intention of letting any _successor_ take my place, even those darling Cutie Mark Impeders."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other uneasily. "Uh, what exactly are you suggesting Twilight?" Applejack questioned.

"Immortality. Invulnerability. Eternal power. We are going to become alicorns." Twilight relished in the collective gasp that followed. So far things were going as she wanted. Twilight had briefly considered keeping alicornhood for herself, however she realized that she needed the other ponies for the Elements of Disharmony to be effective. She would still have her mastery of magic and her intellect to reign in her fellow elements if needed later. Greedy smiles lit up everpony's face. It seemed they were warming to her plan after all.

Rarity cleared her throat. "How precisely are we going to do that?"

Shifting into her voice into lecture mode, Twilight trotted over to the statues of princesses. "Of late, I've been studying our former princesses here. I've been trying to examine the magic contained within their bodies, specifically how they are able to contain three times as much magic as a normal pony, in a physical form. Simply absorbing their power won't work, as once it leaves their body, it simply becomes raw magic, which depletes over time and doesn't make one an alicorn."

"Where are ya going with this?" Applejack asked.

Twilight shot her a look of annoyance. "As I was saying, simply absorbing the power of an alicorn doesn't make you an alicorn. However, I came across an interesting discovery. You see, the reason they can contain so much power, is because it isn't really within them at all. It flows into them _from_ somewhere. They then use this massive amount of power in conjunction with their special talent, like controlling the sun and moon."

Fluttershy thought for a moment, "Flows from _somewhere_... so you're saying-"

"Their power flows into them from another dimension, exactly. Unfortunately we can't use an alicorn to access the power, because as soon as you tamper with their magic, the connection immediately closes off. However, I've input a searcher spell into the mirror. It should only be a day or so until it finally locates the dimension we're looking for."

"Even if we find this so called 'power dimension', how do we use it to become alicorns?" Rarity asked.

"That's where this comes in." Twilight trotted over to a machine on the other side of the room. It was twice her height, with a tall metal point swirling outwards at a right angle.

"Eh, what the hay is that?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. The level of intelligence she had to deal with sometimes... "This is called a cosmic drill. I siphoned some of Sir Discord's reality warping powers, and used them to create this. It can rip the very fabric of reality apart, and once we find our mystery dimension, we can use this to access the power there directly. This, Applejack, is our key to becoming alicorns." Twilight paused and gave a look of pure malice. "And once we find those miserable counterparts of ours, they won't stand a chance against us."

* * *

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. Twilight snorted with derision. She wasn't even sure if she deserved that title anymore. The bleak sky and the dusty streets of Mirror Ponyville did nothing to improve Twilight's mood. For the past few hours, she hadn't really much cared what they had been doing. Derpy had led them out of the forest, and snuck them aboard a train. Nopony had really spoken, except for a few half hearted jokes from Pinkie. Twilight had allowed herself some sleep, if only to escape the crushing reality of the situation.

Now she trotted along the sidewalk of an industrial looking Ponyville. Identical brick houses lined the street, showing no signs of individuality or creativity. As opposed to Twilight's own Ponyville, there was no vibe of cheerfulness or excitement. Ponies worked, went home and stayed there. Nopony seemed interested in the town or each other. In fact, Derpy hadn't even bothered asking Twilight to cast a stealth spell, saying nopony in town would care who they were or what they were doing, even if they looked very similar to the new rulers. When the occasional guard marched by, eyes green with mind control, Twilight and her friends ducked behind the nearest cart or fence. Once again this world had managed to twist something she loved into something heartbreaking.

Derpy stopped in front of a nondescript white painted house that looked slightly worn. Paint chipped away from the walls and vines grew unchecked over the windows. In the rather ill-maintained front yard was a chained up brown and white dog. It growled at them threateningly as they approached.

"Winona?" Applejack asked curiously. Upon seeing her more closely, the dog stopped growling and sat attentively, as if awaiting instruction. "Hmm, normally she'd just start lickin' me like crazy. Ah can't tell whether this is an improvement or not." Mirror Winona sniffed the air twice, and immediately began growling even more ferociously at Applejack, snapping at her. She quickly backed up, eyeing the dog sadly.

"Looks like she knows you aren't supposed to be here." Derpy remarked.

"Where is 'here' exactly?" Rarity asked as Twilight opened the door with magic. Inside the place had an air of neglect. Dust motes floated around, causing Fluttershy to have a sneezing fit, at the end of which she blushed deeply. They took a seat at a dusty round table on which the only thing was an old concert flyer (DAZZLINGS: a concert of love!... guest appearances by pianist Vinyl Scratch and electric guitarist Octavia! _Cancelled by order of the Princess of Disharmony_ ).

"This is the one place the Elements of Disharmony would never think to look... their old hideout." Derpy replied.

"They didn't protect it very well." Twilight observed.

"I think it was supposed to blend in, which was probably why we had such hard time finding it before." Suddenly, everpony froze as they heard hoofsteps from the back of the house. Thinking quickly, Applejack grabbed Derpy roughly and held her hooves behind her back.

"Oh you're back already princess?" a familiar voice called. Mirror Starlight trotted into the room bowing low. She looked almost exactly like Twilight's student, except that she wore a white hat bearing an equal sign with a slash through it. "And I see you have... company. Is that Derpy Hooves? And why do you have wings?"

"She's our er... captive. And um, the wings are because of um... an experiment I was doing. Yeah." Twilight answered. M-Starlight nodded but didn't say anything. She just stood there looking at them. "So... um... how are you then?" Twilight stammered awkwardly.

M-Starlight blinked as if that was an unexpected question. "Oh just fine your majesty, the inequality movement is going splendidly. Ponies are slowly accepting that friendship is truly an unequal relationship. My talk on dominant friends and submissive friends in Appleoosa was definitely well received. After all, friendship is so much simpler when one pony calls the shots. Owlowiscious had been so helpful distributing fliers-"

Twilight held up a hoof and M-Starlight immediately stopped talking. "So... Starlight... have you completed your task here then?"

"Yes your majesty, I've finished feeding all the animals and cleaning their feed bowls. Really though I can't thank you enough for taking me on to study magic your highness, its truly an honor. I've already completed my first lesson on dark magic-" Twilight held up her hoof again.

"If you're done here, we need some privacy to make our plans." Twilight said sternly.

"Oh- Oh of course princess no problem. I'll be on my way then! Love the new hairdo Pinkamena!" M-Starlight headed toward the door.

"Starlight?" Twilight called. She stopped mid step and turned around."How many friends have you made so far... in your inequality movement?"

Starlight placed a hoof on her chin pensively. "Only a few so far... but to be honest I think they only hang out with me because they want favor with you. They aren't very good at being submissive friends."

"Hmm interesting. How about we do an experiment then, for your next assignment? Try ditching the whole 'inequality' idea for a day, and just attempt to connect with ponies on a personal level. You know, likes, dislikes and all that. If you find one friend who genuinely wants to hang out with you, then continue the experiment the next day, and so on. Just to prove once and for all that inequality is the best method. And I'll know if you really tried or not, so give it your best. Oh and lay off the dark magic for a while. Stuffs not good for you." M-Starlight looked at Twilight, stunned. "Go on you have your assignment, now shoo." Twilight waved a hoof dismissively. M-Starlight gave a quick bow and hurriedly left.

Applejack released Derpy, who let out a huge sigh of relief. "Was that really necessary?" AJ grinned sheepishly.

"So I'm gonna ask the obvious question here. Why the hay didn't it work?" Rainbow Dash inquired.

"Why didn't what work? Our plan? Because that basically got scrapped from the second we arrived." Derpy said sullenly crossing her hooves.

Twilight couldn't bear it anymore. She had to know. "Every enemy we've faced in the past was defeated by the magic of friendship. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek, Chrysalis... all of them. How? How could we fail?" She looked dejectedly at Derpy. "Maybe...maybe we just aren't strong enough this time. This is too big, even for us. Maybe I should've let them turn me to stone... then at least she'd turn to stone too and the rest of you might have a chance."

"Noble Twilight, very noble. However it wouldn't work. The equalization magic won't take effect if you're in the same world. But you already know that. Why are you so ready to give up?" Derpy asked.

"Ever since I moved to Ponyville to study friendship, the lessons I've learned always showed me that true friendship triumphed over any obstacle, any villain. But now I'm questioning if that's really true after all? This... world... has twisted everything we loved into something awful. Maybe here, friendship isn't magic after all..."

Rainbow grabbed Twilight and spun her around until she faced her. "Look we know you're upset about Shining Armor, we all are. But this is crazy talk. Remember what you said when we first battled Discord? Friendship isn't always easy..."

"...but there's no doubt it's worth fighting for." Twilight completed.

"That's right. Shining Armor sacrificed himself to give us another chance, a chance to make things right again. And that's what we're gonna do." Applejack affirmed.

"You put Starlight on the right path just now darling. That proves you still do care about friendship, even if you think you don't." Rarity added.

"Besides, don't tell me I planned the after-party for nothing!" Pinkie yelled, bouncing around the table. Fluttershy didn't say anything, but simply gave Twilight a pat on the back and a warm smile.

Even in their darkest hour, her friends showed loyalty, honesty, generosity, optimism and kindness. Twilight felt her sadness lift like a stage curtain. She couldn't give up. She never did give up in the first place. Her heart already knew what her mind had needed to be taught. "Friendship IS worth fighting for! And as long as one pony is willing to fight for it, the magic of friendship will always survive!" Everypony cheered loudly.

"Um that's wonderful and all girls, but maybe we ought to keep the noise to a minimum? You know in case any guards get curious." Derpy said nervously.

"Oh right." Twilight grinned sheepishly.

"Um so why did they beat us?" Fluttershy repeated Rainbow's question hesitantly.

Derpy adjusted her glasses. "Ah, I believe I have an explanation. You see, despite you not having your physical elements, I thought that you exemplified the spirit of your elements so well, that you didn't need them. You should've been able to triumph over your opposites with ease. However here's where I went wrong. I believed the Elements of Disharmony acted similar to your Elements of Harmony, simply converting a certain emotion or trait into raw magic. Since pony nature tends toward good, I believed that your elements would be stronger plain and simple. But now I believe we are dealing with something very different. The Elements of Disharmony must be parasitic, feeding off the negative emotions and traits in a pony, and over time, increasing their influence and control over the host. They grant great power, but only so that the host can protect the elements and they can keep feeding."

"So because they keep increasing the negative emotions in whoever is using them, the elements have more and more power to draw on?" Twilight asked.

Derpy nodded. "Yes. That's why they were able to overpower you. But in turn, the elements are slowly taking control of them. Twilight will become more and more power hungry. Fluttershy's cruelty will descend to outright barbarism... and so on. It seems odd to me that Twilight would so foolishly steal such powerful artifacts without proper research. Unless someone manipulated her... played to her ego."

"Hey Twi, these elements sound alot like the Alicorn Amulet Trixie used." Applejack observed.

"You're right they do AJ! How'd we stop her again?" Rainbow asked, reminiscing to the past.

"We tricked her. The amulet gave her power, but it also made her easier to fool." Rarity remembered.

"You said the Elements of Disharmony will defend the host against attack, to keep feeding at any cost?" Twilight asked.

"Yes that's right. What-" Derpy began, but Twilight cut her off.

"I have a plan. A really stupid, dangerous crazy plan. Derpy, get us on the next train back to Canterlot."


	9. Disharmony

Rainbow Dash zoomed up and down the castle hallway, knocking down lamps and scratching off paint. Two seconds.

"Hey cool a new record!" she cheered to herself. Twilight would probably yell at her later for damaging the castle, but who cared what she thought? She was Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in all Equestria. It was just too bad that Twilight put a protection ward around the castle, otherwise she'd be flying outside. Twilight had said going outside without a guard escort would, "make her a target". Rainbow chuckled at the thought. She didn't need anypony to 'protect' her, they'd just slow her down. With the sheer amount of awesomeness she had, she could kick anypony who tried to mess with her all the way to Manehatten. She could do whatever she wanted, and nopony could tell her otherwise. Certainly not some loser egghead like Twilight. Sure Twilight and the others would take care of pesky details, but Rainbow was the real reason any of their plans worked. Yeah they'd been caught last time, but only because Twilight was too stuck up to just run in and grab the diamond. The only reason Rainbow even stuck around in this stupid castle was because of this sweet "Ruler of Equestria" gig. So called _Princess_ Twilight would deal with any nuisances, and all Rainbow would have to do is sit back and reap the rewards.

Nuisances... like those duplicates of theirs. The other Rainbow Dash was just as fast as her, and maybe even almost as awesome. But for some reason she seemed like she actually cared what the rest of her team wanted. Please. Why should you care about other ponies when you could leave them in the dust without even trying? She reached the end of the hallway, and prepared to take off for another lap. Behind the door, she could hear muffled voices. Curious. She leaned against the door to listen.

"Honestly sometimes I wonder about Rainbow. She seems too weak to even be worthy of _wearing_ an element." Twilight said. Weak? Her? She was the toughest pony around!

"Yeah totally. She's so... slow and dumb too. It's kind of sad to watch really." Was that... Pinkamena?

Rainbow felt herself boil with anger. She kicked open the door violently, causing Twilight to jerk backwards in surprise. Twilight muttered a small, "oops" and disappeared in a flash of purple. Pinkamena simply brushed her long hair out of her eyes and looked at Rainbow with indifference. "SLOW and DUMB?! I'll show you SLOW!" Rainbow yelled angrily. She zoomed toward Pinkamena ready pummel that sorry sad face of hers. "GOTCHA... wait huh?" Rainbow found herself holding empty air.

"Catch me if you can! Or are you too stupid to even do _that_?" Pinkamena said dryly standing at the other end of the hallway. How did she... nevermind, she'd get what was coming to her. Rainbow had had enough of all these pretentious losers talking down to her. She raced toward Pinkamena, eyes blazing with anger. Pinkamena didn't flinch and simply looked up at her, emotionless. "YOU'RE DEAD!" Rainbow felt her rage multiply exponentially as black bolts shot from her locket. She slammed herself down, right into Pinkamena. "HA, who's slow now PUNK... WHAT?!" Empty air again.

"Best flyer in Equestria? _Really?_ " Pinkamena said sarcastically, standing at the end of a hallway to Rainbow's left. Rainbow stood up, enraged. Her element crackled with dark energy as she charged at Pinkamena once again.

* * *

Rarity casually hummed as she trotted back to the treasure room. She had just had a wonderful hooficure and facial at the castle spa, courtesy of the mind-controlled spa ponies. Now it was time to get back to her wonderful, wonderful gems. Ever since Twilight had increased taxes on the citizens, more and more ponies had been giving away their gems to keep from being thrown in Canterlot Dungeon. Perhaps it was the fact that Fluttershy was the new warden. None of this bothered Rarity too much, as long as the bits and gems kept flowing in.

She felt giddy just thinking about all the shiny trinkets she could incorporate into her new dresses. Castle life was so much better than having to steal from or sweet talk a pony every time there was a new gem she liked. Really if ponies would just give her what she wanted things would be so much simpler. Rarity sighed, and used her magic to open the door to her stash.

"Uh oh." a surprised looking Applejack said in a low voice. She had her hooves full of bits, and was shoveling even more into a small sack.

"AHA! I've caught you red hoofed you fiend! Those are my bits. MINE!" Rarity yelled. Applejack grabbed the sack in her mouth and darted out the door. Rarity galloped after her, face red with anger. "THOUGHT I WOULDN'T NOTICE?! I knew for weeks you've been stealing my bits! GET BACK HERE!"

* * *

Fluttershy tiptoed toward her bedroom, careful to keep her hoofsteps light. She didn't want to wake the animals just yet. Their surprised and scared faces when she slammed the door open were absolutely adorable. Perhaps today they'd keep working on that dance routine, and if anyone stepped out of line...Fluttershy smiled, relishing the thought. Then the real fun would begin.

She silently made her way up to the door, preparing to throw it open. Inside her room, a familiar voice said, "Go on little guys, come on quickly before she comes back! Not yet Angel we gotta wait for-" BAM.

"Rainbow Dash?!" Fluttershy yelled furiously. "What're you... no NO!" Every single one of her animals was gone. And it wasn't hard to see where they'd went either. Rainbow Dash stood near a wide open window, holding Angel. "DON'T YOU DARE!" Rainbow let the bunny go, and it hopped out the window to freedom. "WHY YOU-"

Rainbow Dash yawned. "Heelllooo, Element of Disloyalty? Serves you right!" she answered, grinning. "Seeya _Fluttershy_!" In a flash Rainbow flew past Fluttershy out into the hall.

Fluttershy growled in anger and took off after her. Rainbow taunted, "Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly!" Her element glowed with dark energy, sparking like crazy as Fluttershy flew after Rainbow, her face filled with malice.

* * *

Twilight checked the mirror excitedly, hoping the searcher spell had finally found the power dimension. No such luck, but she wasn't worried. Based on the algorithm she'd put into the spell, it would be a maximum of twenty more minutes. Once she finally found the source of the alicorn's magic, nothing could stop her. Immortality itself was within her grasp!

She'd find Derpy and those troublesome duplicates, and make them talk. After a visit from Fluttershy, Twilight was sure Derpy would be more than willing to tell her how to undo the spell that blocked off the dimension that alicorn Twilight and her precious _friends_ came from. She would go from Princess of one world to two. But why stop there? There might be hundreds, even thousands of worlds out there for the taking. She would go from Princess of Disharmony, to RULER OF THE COSMO-

"Twilight thinks she can lead _us_? _Please_." Fluttershy said, just outside the lab door.

"Agreed darling. She really has no sense of style. I mean she doesn't even wear trendy shawls. Don't I look fabulous?!" Rarity concurred.

"Um yes Rarity. She is um... so going down! She has such a big um... ego she probably won't even see it coming." Fluttershy plotted. "Um in fact-"

Twilight burst through the lab door, her whole body radiating magic. "PLOTTING TO OVERTHROW ME HUH? NOPONY CAN EVER DEFEAT THE PRINCESS OF DISHARMONY!"

"Yikes!" Rarity gulped. Suddenly Twilight was blinded as Rarity flashed her sparkling shawl right in her face.

"Gah!" Twilight stumbled around as the shine disoriented her. She shot beams of magic in random directions, trying to regain her bearings. When she looked back, both Rarity and Fluttershy were gone. She turned right and saw a door swinging back and forth. To her left she caught Fluttershy rounding the corner. Twilight started toward the right, but Fluttershy stuck her head out from behind the far wall and grinned. So they wanted her to go after Rarity! Well she wouldn't fall for it! Twilight shot a beam at Fluttershy, which the pegasus ducked with a small yelp. "YOU CAN'T RUN! MY POWER IS UNSTOPPABLE!" Twilight galloped after her, not noticing her element glowing with dark magic.

* * *

"So ya think Twilight's alicorn plan could really work? Like we'd become immortal n' all?" Applejack asked. She and Pinkamena trotted back to their rooms after a long sojourn in the castle library, looking through family records to see if they were related. Despair and Deceit had a nice ring to it in her opinion. They hadn't gotten any conclusive answer, mostly because Pinkamena would often stop researching and just stare off into the distance, as if she was looking at something far, far away.

"Possibly. Does it really matter? Does anything _really_ matter Applejack?" Pinkamena questioned.

"Yer a real barrel o' laughs ya know that?" Applejack muttered shaking her head. She felt a small breeze behind her and suddenly her head felt... lighter.

Rarity galloped in front of them, Applejack's hat in her mouth. She tossed the jet black hat hat up onto her head and grinned. "This hat looks absolutely gorgeous on me don't you think dear?"

Applejack could feel the anger slowly rising up within her. Nopony NOPONY touched her hat. Ever. Still, she kept her tone even, "Now sugarcube, j-just give that back here _right now_ and ah won't do anything to ya. We can forget this little mistake here ever happened. Just hand it over nice and quick now." She was lying of course. Once Applejack got the hat back, she'd throw all of Rarity's gems down a deep, deep well. If she was lucky Rarity might even dive after them.

"Ha not a chance! This _fabulous_ hat is MINE now!" Rarity scoffed. Before Applejack could react, Rarity galloped down the hall and turned out of sight.

"Greedy little...c'mon lets go catch that weasel!" Applejack said furiously. The Element of Deceit crackled as Applejack's previous lie and now her anger fed it greater and greater amounts of energy.

Pinkamena narrowed her eyes. She shrugged and said, "Fine with me." The two mares galloped after Rarity at top speed.

* * *

Twilight anxiously waited in the throne room pacing back and forth under her stealth spell, cast just beside the ornate entrance doors. In no uncertain terms, her friends were risking alot doing this. But this was the only plan they had, and if they didn't stop their counterparts now, they could do untold damage. Sitting next to her, Derpy dutifully kept her eye on her watch. She held up a hoof, "Alright it's been twenty minutes. Send them the signal." Twilight nodded and channeled her magic. "Now we wait." Twilight placed her hoof on her chest, and breathed several times. She had to have absolute focus if this was going to work.

She listened intently, until finally the sound of galloping came from five directions. "They did it!" she exclaimed. Now it was her turn. The galloping got closer. She held her breath. This had to be timed perfectly. Wait for it. Wait...Wait...BANG! Five entrances to the throne room burst open. Twilight concentrated hard, harder than she ever had before. With five flashes her friends teleported beside her. A split second later, three of Trixie's high grade smoke bombs detonated, filling the entire room with thick smog.

A cacophony of coughs followed as everypony inhaled the smoke. Luckily for Twilight, the stealth spell muffled any sound they made. On the other side of the room, Twilight saw a horn glow purple. A sharp whistling filled her ears as a strong wind buffeted the smoke away.

Next to her Applejack finished her last cough. "Thank Celestia that's over." She took off her fake locket and placed it beside her.

Pinkie did a vigorous shake, and her mane went from droopy to poofy in the blink of an eye. She made a flourished bow and smiled. "Acting!"

Fluttershy shuddered, "She almost caught me a couple times there."

Meanwhile in the middle of the throne room, six ponies were really, really angry.

"What the hay are ya tryna pull?! Give me my hat back THIEF!" M-Applejack demanded, all veneer of forgiveness gone.

"I'M a THIEF?! A liar as always! You're the one that stole my BITS! I saw you do it with my own two eyes!" M-Rarity yelled.

M-Applejack stomped a hoof, "I didn't steal no bits ya two timing varmint!"

M-Rainbow grabbed Pinkamena roughly. "SLOW AND DUMB HUH? We'll see who's dumb when I knock you stupid!" Pinkamena raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"YOU. LET. ANGEL. GO." Fluttershy screamed. She then yelled a series of words that Twilight mentally blocked out.

Rainbow turned toward her with a confused look. "Huh? No I-"

"NOPONY OVERTHROWS THE PRINCESS OF DISHARMONY!" M-Twilight's voice was so loud, it made Twilight's ears ring. "You're all traitors, trying to steal the power that's rightfully MINE! It's time I dealt with you, ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Her crackling element enveloped her in a black aura, and she rose from the floor.

"I'm tired of you LOSERS! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" M-Rainbow was lifted off the floor in her own black glow.

"THIEVES! It's MINE! IT'S ALL MINE!"

"There can only be one pony rulin' this town. And that's no LIE!"

"I. Wasn't. Done. Playing. With. ANGEL!" The glow became so bright that Twilight could barely see the six ponies. Beams of dark magic shot out of each element, colliding spectacularly in the middle. A ball of energy crackled at the midpoint, growing larger and larger as the elements struggled against each other. Twilight was forced to avert her eyes from the intense light, as sparks shot out randomly from the magical mass.

Beside her she heard Pinkie muttering. "That can't be right... itchy neck, pinchy knees... NO!"

Twilight felt an unseen force slam against her, pushing her out the doors. She heard a loud BANG as the large throne room doors shut before her. Barely a moment later, a huge explosion shook the entire castle as hard as a 6.0 earthquake. The entire building rumbled loudly as the very foundations of the centuries old building were moved.

Then, as quick as it started, the shaking stopped. Twilight got up unsteadily, her hooves still wobbling. She looked around, and saw her friends slowly getting to their hooves as well. All her friends... minus Pinkie. Panic began to swell in Twilight's chest. "Pinkie?! Where is she where is she?!" Twilight telekinetically threw the throne room doors open, and galloped in.

In the middle of the room, Twilight saw the unmoving bodies of the M-Mane 6. The thrones had been blown to bits, and black scorch marks were all over the walls and floor. Twilight frantically scanned the room for Pinkie.

"There!" Rarity pointed to Twilight's left. Pinkie was lying on the floor, totally still. Everypony galloped over to her as fast as they could.

Twilight heard a door slam open and tiny footsteps. "Can't a dragon get any sleep around... oh it's you lot again!" Spike said. He turned and looked at the rest of his gang. "Blimey..."

"Unless you want me to start lecturing again, I suggest you put your claws up and join your friends over there." Derpy said sternly.

"Alright, alright. Yeesh." Spike put his hands up and walked to the middle of the room. He prodded M-Twilight with a claw. "Good gravy! She's breathin!"

That gave Twilight hope. She gently turned Pinkie over, and sure enough, her chest moved ever so slightly. Her breathing was rattled and erratic, and her lips were completely black. Derpy trotted over and examined her. "I think we both know what this is Twilight. Dark magic poisoning." Twilight gulped. She knew... and she knew the answer to the next question. It wasn't a good one.

"Will- will she be okay?" Rainbow Dash asked tentatively.

"I don't know." Derpy drooped her head sadly. "Some ponies make it... others don't. Either way it takes weeks for the body to fight the poison."

"Her Pinkie Sense saved us." Twilight said flatly. "She must've somehow pushed us all out of the way, and pulled the throne room doors shut so we wouldn't be hit." She laughed dryly, "And I didn't even believe in it at one point..."

"Uh um everypony I know now's not the best time but-"

"Later Fluttershy. Is there anything we can do to help?" Rainbow questioned with earnest.

"No. She has to fight the poison on her-"

"EVERYPONY PLEASE." Everypony turned to Fluttershy with expressions of bewilderment. "Um I know we're all worried about Pinkie a-and I am too but... where's Pinkamena?" She was right. Only five ponies lay unconscious in the middle of the throne room, joined now by their bored looking dragon companion.

For the second time, Twilight looked around frantically, searching for any trace of Pinkie Pie's opposite. "She must've escaped!" Twilight heard a loud groan. The five other counterparts slowly got to their hooves. Each of their locket gems was completely smashed. The lockets clicked open, and a foul smoke poured out. It gathered together and slowly made it's way out into the grand hall. Twilight heard glass break as the smoke smashed the six cutie mark windows and floated outside, slowly dissipating.

M-Twilight blinked several times. "I feel... drained. So... weak. YOU!" She pointed a hoof accusingly at Twilight. "What did you...how did you?" she asked, dumbfounded.

Twilight gave her the short version. "Your protection spell counted on us coming on foot or by the air. Fortunately thanks to some... canine friends... we didn't do either. As for the rest... concealing spell for my wings, Pinkie changed her mane style, fake lockets. All of which would've been easy to see through if your elements weren't controlling you."

M-Twilight raised her eyebrows. "They were controlling-"

"They were parasitic artifacts, increasing and feeding off of your negative feelings. We used that to turn you against each other, then we lured you here, knowing that because you considered each other a threat, the elements would attack each other to protect the host. The smoke covered my friends' escape, and you did the rest. Your magic will be gone for a while, years at least." Twilight took a breath. "NOW. Where is Pinkamena?"

M-Twilight looked behind her, then looked back wide eyed. "That two timing-"

Twilight stepped toward her, a dangerous expression on her face. "Where. Is. She."

"I don't know! Unless... the lab! She's gonna take the power for herself! I have to stop her!" M-Twilight tried to gallop, but her weakened state wouldn't let her. She knelt down panting.

" _You're_ not going anywhere." Twilight's horn flashed, and a cage appeared around M-Twilight and her accomplices.

Derpy put a hoof on her shoulder. "Go. I'll watch them... and Pinkie too."

"She's a tough un'. She'll pull through, ah just know it." Applejack said with a hopeful tone.

Shining Armor, Pinkie... they'd both sacrificed themselves so Twilight and the others would have a chance. They had to honor those sacrifices. "We still have a job to do girls. Pinkamena's Element of Despair might still be intact. We have to find her and destroy it at all costs."

Everypony nodded their assent. Twilight turned and looked at Pinkie one last time. Then, she galloped out of the room, as fast as she could. The others followed, matching her urgency. Twilight already knew the way. Derpy had showed them a map of the castle as they planned out their second attack on the M-Mane 6. Everypony memorized one route to the throne room, but naturally, Twilight memorized the entire map.

Thus within five minutes they ended up at the door to M-Twilight's lab. She kicked open the door, expecting to catch Pinkamena setting up apparatus or somehow trying to transfer power to herself. Nothing. Nopony.

Rarity pointed a hoof. "She... went in." She was right. The mirror had a portal active, leading to some other world.

Applejack placed a hoof on her chin. "Hmm, theres alota drag marks round here... like she took somethin' big in with her. How would it fit-"

Rainbow shook her head. "She's _Pinkie's_ opposite remember?"

"She can't have got far. We'll have to go in after her." Twilight decided. Everypony gathered beside her, in front of the mirror. "On three. One...two...THREE!" Together they dove into the swirling vortex.

The portal wasn't as bad this time. Twilight was twisted and squeezed like a piece of taffy, but at least she knew it was going to happen. Her eyes were closed tight, waiting for it to end.

Twilight felt herself arc through the air for a second, and then hit something solid with a great THUD. Getting up, she blinked her eyes open, taking in the surroundings. There was... nothing. The expanse beyond was filled with distant stars, twinkling in a black and blue void. Beneath her, the ground was made of tiny stars, forming a single lit up path.

Everypony was amazed, looking around at the starry skies that surrounded them with wide eyes.

"T-Twi... what is this place?" Applejack asked with awe.

This place, strange though it was, was a place Twilight would always remember. "This was the place where Princess Celestia made me an Alicorn..."


	10. Timelines

"So THIS was where you went darling?" Rarity asked. Twilight nodded, still deep in thought.

"That was the scariest moment o' mah life. Thought the spell'd made ya disappear forever!" Applejack remembered with a shudder. "But then ya came back to us all magic like... straight from the sky itself!"

"But why would Pinkamena come here of all places?" Rainbow Dash wondered as she hovered over the starry path.

Twilight thought for a minute. M-Twilight had mentioned a power of some kind, something that Pinkamena would try to take for herself. "I think this place has some kind of special connection to Alicorns." Twilight realized. "Princess Cadence told me once that she was zapped here too, after she defeated an evil enchantress and spread the Magic of Love to her entire village. Just like me, Princess Celestia said she was ready, and made her a princess. Maybe that's what Pinkamena wants... to somehow become an Alicorn!"

"Um but we're here and well um we didn't become Alicorns..." Fluttershy said shyly.

"I don't know how she plans to do it, but we have to find her and stop her." Twilight asserted.

Applejack smiled. "Besides, we got an Alicorn princess of our own right here! Lead the way Twilight."

Twilight felt herself blush slightly, and trotted forward along the starry path. She glanced over the path's edge at endless void below them and gulped. "Keep close to the middle everypony..."

"Hey what're those?" Rainbow pointed a hoof. Rectangles of light zipped toward them, lining up on either side of the path.

"They appeared when I was here last time too. Each window showed a special moment from my life, ever since I was a filly. I saw all the adventures we had, all the friends we've made, villains we stopped... everything." Twilight explained.

Applejack patted Twilight on the back. "Princess Celestia must've been real proud of ya Twilight."

"Oh don't be silly. We did most of these things together. I'm sure she's proud of all-" Twilight's eyes widened. "Wait a second... something's... _different_." The time windows had glowed pearly white when Twilight was awarded her wings. However this time they looked sinister, with a reddish tinge to the images they showed. Twilight trotted up to one, looking closely.

The image shimmered, and Twilight saw herself as a filly, sitting at a table with a few homework assignments in front of her. Her parents stood behind her, looking very angry.

 _"An A minus? Far from good enough!" her mother said sternly._

 _Young Twilight had tears in her eyes. "B-but I thought... I thought."_

 _"You thought what? That such a pathetic score was okay? No more books other than school ones! That's FINAL." her father yelled._

 _Twilight's mother turned away in disgust. "Waste of space. Honestly..."_

 _Filly Twilight galloped out of the room crying. In the next room, a teenage Shining Armor lay contently on the couch reading a comic book. "Twily what's wrong?" he asked looking up worriedly._

 _The filly's face suddenly became red with anger. Shining Armor was enveloped in a purple aura, and hurled across the room. "Mom and dad never yell at YOU! They never care if you make a mistake, never take away your stupid comics!" Shining was tossed into a wall._

 _"OW!" Shining yelled in pain. Tears streamed down his eyes. "Twily stop... please!" he begged, crying pitifully._

 _Twilight's face contorted with rage. "You're pathetic!" Shining was tossed again. "A waste of space!" Shining was thrown into a corner, where he curled up in a ball, bawling his eyes out._

 _The scene shimmered, showing a large silver and black building. A board proudly advertised, 'Sombra's Academy for Talented Unicorns, Entrance Exam Today!' The image flashed to a small auditorium. Young Twilight stood next to a purple dragon egg on a cart, her parents behind her. The filly desperately channeled her magic, trying to hatch the egg, but after a moment gave up. She turned to face her parents, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her father frowned angrily, and her mother shook her head and whispered, "Pathetic."_

 _Shaking, Twilight glanced out the window next to her, as if looking for a miracle. Suddenly, a rainbow flash lit up the sky, causing Twilight's horn to start sparking with magic. But rather than turning the magic on the egg, she shot it straight at her parents. In a blast of purple light, Twilight's parents were turned into two dusty books. There were gasps of horror and dismay from the exam judges as they stared in shock. Twilight grabbed the dragon egg with her magic and galloped out of the room, not noticing her flank shimmer as a purple star cutie mark appeared._

 _The image shifted. Twilight looked ragged and dirty, as if she'd been living homeless for several days. She levitated the dragon egg in front of her, turning it side-to-side. "Pathetic. Waste of space. Pathetic. Waste of space." she repeated over and over. Her lip trembled. "I'll show them. I- I'll become more powerful than any of them!" Another shift._

 _A teenage Twilight, now wearing glasses, stood on a hill overlooking a grey, drab looking town. A wanted poster floated beside her, with her own image drawn on it. The caption read, 'Wanted for crimes against Equestria, including but not limited to: practicing illegal dark magic, theft of magic books, illegal transfiguration, resisting arrest. If spotted do not approach, alert the nearest guard immediately.'_

 _Twilight burned the poster to ashes. "Ponyville, the one place nopony cares about anypony else. If I am to find some minions, this is the best place." She trotted toward the settlement with a malicious expression. The image changed, showing a burning 'Festival of Love' banner, overturned chairs and a destroyed stage. Twilight shot beams of magic at fleeing ponies, laughing at their screams. Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkamena, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were there as well, each terrorizing the citizens in their own way. After everypony had fled, the six ponies shook hooves in partnership._

Before the time window could change to the next scene, Twilight angrily blasted it with magic. The bolt passed right through, sailing off into the void. Twilight turned away, unable to bear watching anymore. That window hadn't shown her past. It showed the past of her dark counterpart, how she had become a power obsessed criminal.

Twilight's heart felt heavy with pity and sadness. A world where everything was opposite. The first time Twilight had gone through the mirror, she had seen the good side of an opposite world. Villains like Sombra and Chrysalis were heroes, and ponies like Trixie and Sunset Shimmer had never even needed redemption in the first place. But now Twilight realized, this world came at a terrible price. Instead of being kind and supportive, her parents were cruel and mocking. Instead of being strong and brave to protect his family, Shining Armor learned fear and pain from his sister. Instead of having a passion for magic, M-Twilight used magic as a tool to prove her power and superiority.

Sighing, Twilight looked around to see what her friends were doing, as they had been silent for a while. Each of them was standing in front of a different time screen, watching intently. Twilight could only see more images of her counterpart in each screen... but maybe each of her friends saw _their_ opposites. She quietly trotted over to Rainbow and stood beside her. "T-Twilight?" Rainbow asked in a hoarse voice.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Mine was pretty horrible." Twilight replied.

"My- my parents... they were awful... _I_ was awful." Rainbow stuttered, her normal bravado gone.

"That's not you Rainbow, and it isn't our world. You don't know any of those ponies."

Rainbow took a breath. "Y-You're right Twilight. I saw myself- I mean I saw _her_ at flight camp. Instead of racing the bullies, she offered to help Fluttershy practice. But because Fluttershy was so slow, she got more and more annoyed. S-She pushed Fluttershy out of the way and went as fast she could, just to prove she was better. And, well, she did manage to do the Rainboom, but she totally betrayed Fluttershy."

Twilight nodded. "And look where it got her in the end. Now come on, Let's go check on _our_ Fluttershy." Fluttershy stood a few screens away, trembling and whimpering.

"Fluttershy are you okay?" Rainbow asked. "What happened talk to us!"

"Oh it's just awful!" Fluttershy cried. "Everypony teased... _her_ in flight camp, but instead of helping the other Rainbow Dash just pushed her out of the way. Everything seemed okay at first, she landed on the ground and started playing with the animals... but then they started to leave and she got more and more frustrated. The sonic rainboom happened and she lost her patience. She grabbed the nearest squirrel and- and-" Fluttershy burst into tears as Rainbow tried to console her.

"Looks like yours were very nasty." Rarity trotted over with a concerned look. "Mine fortunately, or unfortunately I should say, just had a habit of stealing. When she was a filly her horn dragged her away just like it did for me, but the poor dear tripped on the way. There was a small cottage nearby, and the owners just happened to own quite a few choice gems. Well, I guess she was desperate to perfect her costumes, so she stole every last gem in that house. The other Rainbow did her sonic rainboom pretty much at the same time my counterpart left the house. She got her cutie mark, kept stealing whatever she wanted and the rest as they say, is history."

"Mine had a stealin problem too, but even more of a LYIN problem." Applejack joined them. "Granny Smith and the rest o' the, I guess ya could say, 'anti-apples', were high flyin nobles at Canterlot. Mah opposite didn't like the noble life, so she ran away to work at an apple farm. Would o' been a darn right respectable livin, if she wasn't stealin' apples and sellin' em on the side. Got it in her head she could lie her way outta any situation. Nopony caught her so she just kept on lyin for everything, eventually even getting the owners of the farm blamed for some wonky apples. They left in shame and she took over the farm, earnin her disgraceful cutie mark. Can't believe it looks the same as mine!"

After Fluttershy had sufficiently calmed down, they trotted onward down the path. "Why do you think those time window things showed us their past instead of ours?" Rarity asked curiously.

"I have no idea. Magic between universes isn't a well studied topic. If I had to guess, I'd say it's because we travelled here from opposite Equestria instead of our own, so maybe the time windows were confused somehow." Twilight hypothesized.

Rainbow sighed. "This parallel universe stuff can be really depressing... I almost feel bad for my opposite."

"Nopony becomes good or evil on their own, it's a choice influenced by the ponies and circumstances around us." Twilight reflected. "But they still had a choice between right and wrong, and well... they chose to do wrong."

"And what if it wasn't their choice to make?" a voice said. Everypony had been so wrapped up in the conversation, that they hadn't noticed Pinkamena standing just a few yards ahead. Just behind her, a machine twice a pony's size was somehow creating a giant black vortex. "Welcome to the fourth wall, the end of all reality."


	11. Despair

"The fourth what?" Twilight asked.

Pinkamena brushed her droopy mane out of her face. "This place has many names across the multiverse. It is often known as the time stream, as it is the place where all of time is recorded. Not just your timeline Twilight, but every timeline across reality. I suppose a sciencepony would even call it a 'sixth dimension'." She spoke in a voice filled with sorrow.

"Um there are only three dimensions, that's stuff everypony learns in school... duh." Rainbow Dash said obviously.

"Your... shall we say academically challenged friend here may not understand Twilight, but you do." Pinkamena sighed.

"Hey!" Rainbow argued.

"Time is the fourth dimension, the collection of all three dimensional points at a single moment. A timeline, like the one we just saw and the one Princess Celestia showed me, is the fifth dimension, a collection of all points of time in a single reality. So the sixth dimension would be... the collection of every point of time in every reality." Twilight explained.

"Uh sugarcube... ah didn't get any of that..." Applejack said with a confused look.

"This place is connected to all of reality, every single pony that exists!" Twilight summed up. "Which means..."

"It's connected to every friendship that has existed, exists and will exist." Pinkamena finished, looking even sadder.

"Which is why all Alicorns are connected to this place!" Twilight jumped excitedly. Then she stopped and pointed an accusing hoof at Pinkamena. "That's why you came here with that... machine. You want to steal the power of friendship and become an Alicorn!"

"No." Pinkamena said simply.

"No? But why would you..." Twilight wondered.

"This dimension serves a second purpose. It is a barrier between our reality, and a higher one, filled with beings who manipulate our very fates. To them, this "fourth wall" is merely a metaphysical concept, but to us, it is a very real place." Pinkamena narrowed her eyes and looked at the vortex behind her. "We are nothing but _puppets_ to them. Our emotions, our loved ones, our world... are all just playthings. We have no free will, and thus any choice we make, anything we do _doesn't matter_." Tears brimmed her eyes.

Rarity made whirled her hoof near her head, making a small 'loco' sign to Twilight. "What do you mean puppets? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

Pinkamena wiped away her tears. "You may not see what I do Twilight Sparkle, but you're an intelligent pony. Do you really think that you meeting the five perfect friends to host the elements of harmony was a coincidence? Is it coincidence that nearly five times within the course of a year Equestria is under threat of being taken over by an insane villain? Luck, that you were able to stop every single villain you faced, without one even achieving a partial victory?"

Twilight thought for a moment, doing the math in her head. "W-well no the probability isn't high... not even scientifically likely but... maybe it was destiny?"

"Destiny?" Pinkamena sighed. "Sounds more like an arc of Power Ponies to me. We're nothing but a spectacle Twilight, the playthings of wicked beings who want nothing more than to see us suffer. But no more." She pointed to the machine behind her, and the ever growing black vortex behind it. "This cosmic drill is already ripping a hole in this dimension Twilight. In a few minutes, the rip in spacetime will be big enough to merge our world with the one beyond. Finally our reality will become _real_."

Fear poked at Twilight's stomach. "B-but you could destroy everything! This place is connected to everypony that exists! You're tampering with the very laws of nature!"

"Destroy everything? Hardly. I would be destroying nothing. Because our world, everything we do... it _means nothing_."

Rainbow stomped a hoof. "Enough talk! You're goin down!"

"Ah dunno what kinda crazy idea you got, but we ain't lettin you hurt anypony!" Applejack agreed.

"Here here!" Rarity agreed. Fluttershy just meekly nodded.

"Give up Pinkamena. You're outnumbered, and the element of Despair is useless now that we defeated the others." Twilight said flatly.

Pinkamena raised her eyebrows. "You still don't understand, do you Twilight? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given how easy it was to manipulate your counterpart. All I had to do was plant the ideas, and her ego did the rest. You are the same way. All somepony like your precious Celestia has to do is plant the idea that someone is in danger, and like a little puppy you'll go racing off to save them won't you? Don't worry though, it isn't your fault. After all, it was never your choice to make was it?"

Twilight felt her blood boil. This pony didn't know her. Yes maybe she did run off to save the day at a moment's notice, but so what? Wouldn't anypony else do the same in her position?

"As for the element of Despair..." Pinkamena took off the locket and tossed it at Twilight's hooves. "I don't need it to stop _you_."

Before she could react, Twilight saw a pink blur race across the path. Her back erupted in pain as Pinkamena, somehow now behind her, slammed her forehooves down. Twilight felt herself collapse on the starry path beneath her, the pain rendering her unable to move.

In front of her the others turned around. "Twilight!" Applejack yelled in shock.

Twilight saw Pinkamena step into her field of vision. She spread her front hooves and shrugged apologetically. "You see?"

"Why you-!" Applejack dived for her angrily. The path beneath Pinkamena parted, and she simply fell into the endless void below. "What the hay? Where'd she-"

Pinkamena rose up behind Applejack, and whipped her right hoof at Applejack's neck. With a small groan, Applejack collapsed. "Nerve strike." Pinkamena said to Twilight. "Very effective."

"Alright no more tricks!" Rainbow took to the air, flying high above the path. Pinkamena followed Rainbow with her eyes as she flew. Then suddenly she jumped impossibly high, and flipped in midair, kicking Rainbow in the stomach. With a small "oof!" Rainbow crashed back down, knocked out cold.

Rarity stood defensively in front of Fluttershy, her hooves up. There was another pink blur, and suddenly Rarity and Fluttershy were both tied up. With an effort, Twilight forced her head slightly up to see. Pinkamena stood calmly in the middle of the now defeated mares. To her right Applejack was fast asleep, snoring loudly. On her left Rainbow lay on the ground, breathing slowly with her eyes closed. Farther down the path, Rarity and Fluttershy were struggling against their bonds, tape over their mouths muffling their voices. "There is nothing you can do to prevent this. Don't you get it? I'm saving us from this miserable existence. Finally we will be free, and so will every _body_ else."

So this was it then. After everything they'd faced, all the times they had saved Equestria... this was how the world would end. Some crazy alternate Pinkie Pie was going to destroy reality, because she believed free will was an illusion. All because... they had failed... Twilight had failed. And now she had a front row seat to the destruction of the universe.

"You know what your problem is, other me? You just don't get the joke." a voice said behind her.

 _Pinkie Pie_?


	12. Purpose

Pinkamena's face seemed to twitch for just a second, before returning to it's normal sad state. She pointed a hoof at Pinkie. " _You_ were supposed to be poisoned."

Pinkie shrugged. "What can I say, I'm random. Besides, candy _really_ works wonders against dark magic, and I ate a whole bag of heart candies left over from the festival!" She licked her lips and had a far away look. "Mmmm those were sooo goood!"

"You knew my plans then." Pinkamena sighed.

"Well duh, I read the rough draft of the chapter like you did!" Pinkie replied.

Pinkamena rolled her eyes. "I guess we both cheated then. Though I will say your plan to turn us against each other was rather brilliant Twilight." Twilight wanted to respond with a few choice words, but found she could only muster a groan.

Pinkie's eyes widened, as she suddenly seemed to become aware of her friends lying defeated around her. Her face turned red with anger, and her eyes seemed to almost glow. Twilight had only ever seen Pinkie this angry once before, when Applejack broke a Pinkie promise. It was not an experience Twilight wanted to repeat.

"You- you hurt my friends!" Pinkie yelled.

"And I'm truly sorry I had to do that." Pinkamena said sadly. "They would've interfered."

"You're...you're... YOU'RE A MEANIE! A BIG MEANIE!" Pinkie screamed.

Pinkamena seemed unfazed. "Can we get beyond such childishness? You see as I do Pinkie Pie. From the moment we saw the rainboom, we both knew, knew just how hopeless our pitiful lives really are. In that moment, we saw the strings being pulled, our destinies being forced upon us, our very will and actions controlled... by THEM." She pointed at the black vortex. "I got my cutie mark, and at that moment I knew the destiny that had been thrust upon me. It was to open everypony's eyes, show them just how truly sad and miserable this reality is. I've seen fillies and colts starving and thirsty, I've seen criminals take advantage of the innocent, I've seen so much _pain_... and yet THEY do NOTHING about it."

Pinkie had tears in her eyes. Twilight couldn't guess what they were. Tears of regret? Of sorrow? Guilt? Pinkie muttered quietly, "You don't understand..."

"Don't I?!" Pinkamena was yelling now. "When that rainboom sparked across the sky, our creators endowed us with power beyond comprehension. Do you know why? To _mock_ us! So that we could share the sick inside joke _with_ them! But not anymore. That ends here and now. In a few minutes Pinkie Pie... we won't be their puppets anymore. Finally we will be FREE."

"You're WRONG!" Pinkie wiped away her tears and faced Pinkamena with a determined expression. "Our purpose is to make ponies smile and laugh. They gave us a gift, so that we could spread happiness to all their creations! But you corrupted their gift, and abused your powers to hurt my friends and others. We're lucky to live in a world with magic! Instead of appreciating that, you grew cynical and evil. You're not going to hurt anypony anymore... because this Pinkie Pie, is gonna Take. You. DOWN!" Pinkie grit her teeth and took a fighting stance.

Pinkamena's eyes grew hard, and her sad expression gave way to a small grin. "Childish to the end I see. So be it."

There was a tense moment of silence. Twilight had heard alot of things before, but she realized she had never actually heard _nothing_. An entire dimension was deathly quiet, as the two opposites stared at each other, waiting for the first move.

Suddenly out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie pulled out her party cannon and fired right at Pinkamena. Streamers and confetti fluttered around her, causing her to cough. She waved away the party supplies and jumped backward, somehow producing a cannon of her own. Unlike Pinkie's brightly colored one, Pinkamena's was black with grey wheels. It also fired real ammunition. With a loud BOOM a cannonball exploded out of the barrel, straight towards Pinkie. Pinkie rolled out of the way, as Pinkamena landed from her jump softly. They both became pink blurs as they raced up and down the path beside each other, most likely engaging each other hoof to hoof.

The blurs vibrated in front of Twilight for a second, before coming to a stop. Pinkamena and Pinkie were both breathing heavily with exhaustion. Pinkie reached just above Twilight's vision, and pulled out a giant rubber hammer, promptly swinging it at Pinkamena. A brick wall fell from the sky right in front of Pinkie's target, and the hammer slammed into it. The shock jarred Pinkie, causing her to lose her mouth's grip on the hammer.

As it fell into the void, Pinkamena phased through her brick wall, raising her eyebrows. "Really? A hammer from hammerspace? How cliche. What is this, Road Runner?"

"Oh yeah, well lets see you do better!" Pinkie yelled, glaring at her opponent.

"With pleasure." Pinkamena produced five sticks of dynamite, and threw them at Pinkie like dealer dealing cards.

Pinkie took a ninja stance, and skillfully kicked each of the sticks away into the void. She finished with an odd sounding, "WAAAHHH!" and a bow.

"Impressive, but I tire of these games." Pinkamena spun her black cannon around, pointing it at the now fainted Fluttershy and Rarity. Pinkie looked very nervous. "You see, you unlike me, have the weakness of _friends_. Give up now, or I fire this cannon. Oh you may be fast, but I'm equally fast. Will you take the chance Pinkie?"

Tears brimmed Pinkie's eyes again, her determination gone. She looked utterly defeated. Pinkamena continued, "I'm not evil you know, unlike the rest of their counterparts. I hate suffering and pain, and I see it as my destiny to alleviate it. That's what I'm doing now Pinkie. Promise your surrender, and you can spend these last moments with your friends, as I free us all."

"Promise..." Pinkie whispered. "Pinkie promise..."

"You have five seconds." Pinkamena stated flatly, preparing to light the cannon.

"Fluttershy made a Pinkie promise... to free Discord." Pinkie looked up. "And nopony...nopony breaks a PINKIE PROMISE!" Pinkie Pie slammed the ground with her forehooves, causing it to shake. Pinkamena had an expression of shock as she lost her balance, dropping the lighter. In a blur, Pinkie raced up to her opposite and threw her over the edge.

Wasting no time Pinkie galloped over to the cosmic drill and looked over the controls, trying to figure out how to disable it. Twilight tried to shout a warning, but still couldn't find her voice. An enraged Pinkamena rose up out of the starry depths onto the path, just behind Pinkie. Lightning crackled around her hooves, sparking wildly. For the first time in her life, Twilight saw an earth pony do magic. Pinkamena pointed a hoof, and the lightning arced toward Pinkie. Pinkie yelled as she was electrocuted by the spell, and fell over smoking.

She whispered , "Y-you cheated. You weren't supposed to-"

Pinkamena picked her up with a hoof. "Wasn't supposed to be blatant? Wasn't supposed to use explicit magic? I'm DONE obeying _their_ rules. In thirty seconds, they won't matter anymore." The vortex beside them grew ever wider, and seemed to be expanding more and more rapidly.

Pinkie stuttered, "I...I..."

"You'll what? Call me a meanie? Pull some stupid prank? Yell at me about Pinkie promises? Crack a joke? Please. You're a goof, and that's all you'll ever be. You think anypony takes you seriously? When push came to shove, when everything depended on you, you failed Pinkie Pie." Pinkamena narrowed her eyes. "Friendship made you weak."

Pinkie gave a small chuckle. "That's what I said before. You don't get the joke!"

"What?" Pinkamena said, sounding genuinely confused.

"You think laughter and friendship makes ponies weak, makes them vulnerable. But it's the complete opposite! Having ponies we care about, ponies we love with all our hearts, it gives us something to fight for. It gives us determination, drive and the most powerful magic of all! The magic... of FRIENDSHIP!" Pinkie flipped out of Pinkamena's grasp and landed next to the cosmic drill.

Pinkamena jerked back in surprise. "WHAT?! I electrocuted you! You were-"

"Acting!" Pinkie grinned happily. She bucked the machine with all the force she could muster, causing it to short circuit. The vortex began to close, as the dimension slowly repaired itself.

"NO!" Pinkamena yelled. "I will be real! I must be _real_!" She galloped toward the shrinking vortex.

Pinkie turned in surprise. "No wait, don't!" Pinkamena dove into the vortex, just as it closed behind her.

Once again, an entire dimension was completely silent. Pinkie simply stood slack jawed, staring at where the vortex had been. Twilight tried to get up, and found with difficulty that she could. She moved a hoof forward, and she immediately felt too sick to move another step. "P-Pinkie?" she managed.

Pinkie immediately shook herself out of her shock and galloped over to Twilight. "Twilight are you okay?! Please be okay!" Pinkie grabbed Twilight and shook her hard, making Twilight feel even more sick.

Twilight gently pushed her hooves off. "I-I'm fine I think." A sudden sadness washed over her, and Twilight immediately grew solemn. "Pinkie... is it true what she said?"

"Is what true?" Pinkie asked as she pulled a cupcake from her mane. She stuffed the whole thing in her mouth and began to noisily chew on it.

"Are we really just puppets? All the villains I've stopped, our friendship... is it all just a lie? Is my whole life really just, well, entertainment?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie licked frosting off her hooves and pondered. "Is being entertaining such a bad thing? I mean, your job, as 'Princess of Friendship' is to spread the lessons of friendship all across Equestria right? You weren't really supposed to find out about this Twilight, but I guess I might as well tell you. There _are_ beings out there watching us, but they're not wicked like Pinkamena said. They're just like you or me, and every time you teach somepony about friendship, you're having a far greater effect than you know. The lessons you learn and impart affect us all Twi, and make the universe a brighter place."

"So it is true then, we are just playthings." Twilight said dejectedly.

Pinkie shook her head. "I never said that." She spread her forehooves. "Look around Twilight, does that really seem like the life of a puppet?" Twilight looked around her, and saw that the time windows had changed back to their normal white glow. They showed all the proudest moments of Twilight's life. Major things, like freeing Luna and defeating Discord, but also the minor things like her sleepover with Applejack and Rarity, Nightmare Night, and all the fun moments she had with her friends in Ponyville.

Twilight felt small tears of happiness roll down her cheeks as she looked at the memories. She had almost fallen into the same trap as Pinkamena, she realized. It was easy to look over life as whole, and say it didn't matter. But when she looked at the little things, those were the moments that made life worth living.

Twilight felt a cold shiver on her hoof. She glanced down, and realized her hoof was resting on the Element of Despair. In a quick movement, Twilight raised her hoof and stomped on the element. The locket cracked, and a vile black smoke rose out of it. Pinkie blew a small breath like one would blow to snuff out a birthday candle. The smoke reacted violently, as if it was blown by a hurricane. It spiraled rapidly down the path, and passed through the mirror portal, seeming to dissipate as it did so.

"Pinkie... can you really do... anything?" Twilight asked hesitantly.

Pinkie Pie's distracted attitude vanished, and she looked down at the ground sadly. "Yes...you're going to ask why I didn't use my powers to help before?"

"Well yes. There were moments when we really could've used that kind of help!" Twilight exclaimed, louder than she meant to.

"That's not my purpose Twilight. I was given these powers so I could make ponies laugh. Eventually, you'll forget about them, but until then, you have to promise me to keep them a secret." Pinkie replied quietly.

"I-I can't do that Pinkie. When we're out there, sometimes lives are at stake. If you could just... I dunno wave a hoof and fix everything, you should!" Twilight argued.

Pinkie sighed. "And if I did that, would you be here today? The only reason those victories meant anything was because we earned them, as a team. As friends. There's a reason ponies like Discord and I focus our powers on one thing, like Chaos or laughter... it's to prevent us from becoming like Pinkemena. For her there was no surprise in life anymore, nothing to enjoy. If I just waved a hoof and fixed everything, there would be no conflict, nopony would learn anything and life would be... well... boring. It would _mean nothing_. Please, as a friend I'm asking you, just promise me that you won't tell anypony."

Twilight's first thought was to say no. How could Pinkie be being a good friend, if she refused to help to her fullest ability? That kind of thing you could expect from Discord, but one of her best friends? No... Pinkie _was_ being a good friend. She passed a test of friendship far harder than Twilight had ever had to face. Even with all that power at her hoof tips, Pinkie still allowed her friends to shine. She only wanted one thing, to make the world smile. By not promising to keep her secret, Twilight was denying Pinkie the one thing she cared about most. Twilight made her decision. "Pinkie..." Twilight stuck out a hoof. "I promise to keep your powers a secret until I forget about them. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Pinkie smiled and gave her a bone crushing hug. "Okay Pinkie okay!" Pinkie let go, still grinning widely.

"Come on!" Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly. "Let's wake the others and get outta here. Fluttershy still has a Pinkie promise to keep! And the author still has one more chapter to write!"


	13. Epilouge

Portal travel was starting to become... almost therapeutic. All the stretching and twisting really loosened your stiff muscles. A few seconds of bright flashes and Twilight found herself sitting on the smooth tiled floor of the lab. A few feet away from the mirror, Derpy stood patiently waiting for them to get their bearings.

"You did it!" Derpy exclaimed, smiling. "When Pinkie just jumped up all of a sudden and ran here, I didn't know what the hay was going on so I ran after her. She jumped in and for some reason the mirror wouldn't let me follow because seven ponies had already gone through. Did you stop Pinkamena? Where is she anyway?" Mirror counterpart or not, Twilight had to admit that Derpy was pretty adorable when she rambled.

"She... didn't make it." Twilight began.

Pinkie took a huge breath in. "She tried to destroy all reality by ripping spacetime apart with some crazy machine that mirror-twi invented because she thought that life had no meaning but really she was just a big meanie-pie and-"

Derpy's eyes widened. "Tried to _destroy reality_? Ummm maybe we ought to keep that amongst ourselves... just so the others don't, you know, panic?"

"Ah hate to not tell em, but ah see yer point." Applejack agreed. "Some things are better off kept secret." Twilight gave Pinkie a small wink.

"Speaking of the others... there's a few friends waiting to meet you in the throne room." Derpy motioned them to follow. As they trotted, Twilight noticed the guards saluted them as they passed. Their eyes were no longer green, signifying that the spell on them had been destroyed with the elements.

The grand hallway was a mess of shattered glass, as the remnants of the cutie mark windows lay strewn about. Twilight used a quick organization spell to clear the debris, much to the relief of her non-flying friends. The statues no longer lined the sides of the hall, no doubt another spell that had been broken with the destruction of the lockets.

Derpy opened the throne room doors, and Twilight saw a large formal party in progress. All the scorch marks from their previous battle had been scrubbed away, and instead the room had been turned into a fashionable soiree setting. Mares in dresses and stallions in ravishing tuxedos mingled enjoying punch and small delicacies toted around by waiters.

"The guests of honor have arrived!" an announcer called. "Announcing Derpy the Wise, Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Council of Friendship!" Everypony stopped what they were doing and looked at Twilight and her friends, mouths agape. Twilight immediately felt utterly embarrassed. She wasn't even in formal clothes! She probably looked completely ragged and dirty from her days of being on the run and fighting! Twilight's face turned red as a tomato as she inched away slowly.

The room erupted in cheers and all the guests began clapping their hooves. Utterly shocked, Twilight simply stood stock still. Derpy put a hoof on her shoulder. "Go on. This party is in your honor!" she said softly.

"Well I must say I'm not in the most fashionable of clothing for a gathering such as this, but I think I'll make an exception!" Rarity said joyously. Together they trotted in, shaking hooves as guests surged in to meet the saviours of Equestria.

Twilight heard a small pop next to her as a draconequus in a black tuxedo materialized next to her. He stuck his lion paw out to her eagerly, grabbing her hoof. "Sir Discord... it's an honor." Twilight said humbly.

"Oh pfft call me Captain Goodguy! Everyone does! Thank you for freeing us Princess Twilight, and keeping the forces of Chaos at bay." he said in a heroic voice. Twilight never thought she'd hear Discord say there was _too much_ Chaos. He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Oh and uh, I'll see you on the other side. Tell Fluttershy I'll make up tea with her this weekend." He gave her a small wink and disappeared. Yup, Discord was definitely confusing no matter what universe he was in.

Suddenly the mob of guests cleared away, as three alicorns with regal posture strode up to them. With their eye markings and formal attitudes, Twilight could tell that she was looking at the Mirror Celestia and Luna. Their companion looked alot like the former queen of the changelings, but yet seemed much kinder. Duchess Chrysalis smiled warmly, adjusting her glasses. Twilight quickly bowed in deference, and her friends followed suit.

"Thank you all, but this day it is we who should bow to you." M-Celestia said. She waved them up with a hoof, and the three royals bowed respectfully, followed by everypony else in the room. "You have our sincere gratitude for freeing us and our kingdom from the oppression of the mane six. Your courage and determination shall forever be immortalized in the grand hall. In all our hearts, you hold the greatest honor."

With a curt nod, the royals rose from their bow, and waved everypony back to the party. M-Luna whispered, "The VIP section is just through that door, down the hall. There's a few more guests who'd like to see you." Twilight nodded and thanked her.

Princess Trixie, M-Gilda and M-Sunset approached them next and said their thanks.

" _Princess_ Trixie. Ha, I never thought I'd say that." Rainbow remarked.

M-Trixie chuckled. "I guess my counterpart isn't that pleasant to be around?"

"Oh she's gotten better." Twilight replied with a smile.

"What's my opposite like?" M-Sunset asked.

"Would you believe me if I told you she's a creature that walks on two legs, has hands and goes to high school in an alternate dimension?" Twilight said. M-Sunset looked utterly bewildered.

"Actually in my studies of parallel universes, I found that there are multiple human worlds... including two that are opposite to each other." Derpy said casually. An opposite Canterlot High School... Twilight shuddered at the thought.

"As usual Derpy, I have no idea what you're saying..." M-Gilda joked. After a few more bizarre exchanges, Twilight and her friends took their leave, with Derpy deciding to stay behind with her newly freed fellow virtues.

They made their way through the crowd toward the door Luna had directed them to and two guards parted to allow them VIP access. As it turned out, the VIP room was the royal suite. The room was lavishly furnished, with inviting velvet couches, expensive glass tables and a plush rose colored carpeting. Rarity squealed with delight, rambling on and on about how the decor was classic yet neo-modern... or something like that.

"Come in!" a familiar voice called. As they trotted further into the lounge, they saw two ponies waiting for them. Mirror Sombra grinned from ear to ear, and beside him was none other than Princess Celestia herself, smiling patiently.

"Princess!" Twilight breathed in awe.

"Princess." Celestia greeted jokingly.

After a quick embrace, Sombra gave them a quick bow of thanks. "It appears today both of us owe you all a debt of gratitude."

Celestia nodded. "In our darkest hour, you six once again stepped up to the call of duty, and saved both this world and ours. You faced adversity greater than you ever have before, yet your fortitude and friendship saw you through. We are both very proud of you all."

Twilight and her friends looked at each other, smiling with pride. "What happened to the rest of our opposites?" Rarity asked

"They have been imprisoned once again. It seems the elements have drained them of their magical abilities, and those abilities will not be restored for quite some time." Celestia replied.

Applejack raised a hoof. "There's one thing still botherin me. All that magic energy from the elements... it kinda just turned into smoke and vanished."

Sombra sighed. "I was a fool for thinking the energy could be contained in one place. It first manifested in the Princesses in order to counteract the harmony and order I tried to bring to Equestria. All attempts to contain it failed: me, the Tree of Disharmony and the Elements. The truth is that evil was never meant to be contained."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"We don't know for certain, but Celestia and I believe that everypony now has a little of the disharmonic energy inside themselves. You see, good and evil are both meant to be a part of life. That is why we could never destroy the energy in the first place. Thus I believe this is the natural way of things. Evil is not a burden one is meant to carry alone. Rather it is something that we all share and help each other fight every day." Sombra explained. "Despair, deceit, greed, betrayal, cruelty and lust for power are all seeds within us, waiting to grow. However if we use laughter, honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness and friendship to counter them... then Disharmony will never rule again."

"But in case another threat does arise," Celestia continued, "we are closing the connection between our worlds, so that the equalization magic won't cause harm to more innocents."

Rarity gasped. "But that means... you'll never get to see King Sombra again!"

Sombra chuckled. "A price we have both agreed to pay. However even though magic has rules, in a few millennia we both have learned ways to get around them. Both our Lunas have agreed to arrange shared dreams between us every so often. It isn't ideal... but we'll manage."

"For now my little ponies, it is time to go home." Celestia said. They walked to the mirror room, taking a side route so as to avoid the soiree. After saying their goodbyes to Sombra, they jumped into the swirling portal.

"SURPRISE!" Twilight opened her eyes to see she was in the Castle of Friendship, and Starlight, Zecora, Trixie, Luna, Gilda, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, Cadence and Discord were smiling at her, wearing party hats.

Celestia laughed. "Since we thought you'd find that soiree boring, we thought we'd throw you a real party!" Sure enough, the place was decorated with colorful streamers and banners, and heaps of desserts were stacked on the cutie map table.

"Now this is more like it!" Pinkie yelled, diving into the pile of desserts.

The party continued all night, with Twilight hugging her brother until he turned purple, Discord suspiciously packing away a black tuxedo, Cadence confessing that she would rather go to the moon than have to move the sun and moon for another day and Trixie telling anyone who would listen that she could've freed herself at any time, but wanted to let Twilight "have her moment".

A few hours and many explanations later (including a message from the human world that Sunset Shimmer had 'miraculously unfrozen'), Twilight found herself leaning against the wall, utterly party pooped. She saw a very jittery looking Pinkie Pie bounce over to her.

"Our friends really know how to paaarrtyyy huh Twilight?" Pinkie grinned.

"Yeah..." Twilight yawned. "Hey Pinkie I've been wondering... since there are so many other worlds out there, how do we keep some other crazy lunatic from trying to destroy everything?"

"We have top men working on it right now." Pinkie said.

"Who-"

"Top. Men." Pinkie donned a black hat and dark glasses.

Twilight decided not to push the issue. "You know, speaking of which, where DO you think Pinkamena went?"

Pinkie thought for a minute. "I actually dunno Twi. But if I know anything about the author... it's that he has a sense of comedic irony."

* * *

When Pinkamena regained consciousness, she found herself staring at an endless black gravel expanse. Giant metal machines towered above her, supported by big black rubber wheels. Cars. She was in a parking lot then. It seemed she was alot smaller than ponies normally were in this world.

But she had done it. She had finally done it. She, Pinkamena, had finally transcended the fourth wall into the real world, and was in control of her own destiny. No more writers or animators to tell her what to do! Those other ponies were fools for stopping her plan. They could have been free too. But no matter, at least she was free, free to do anything she pleased!

Pinkamena tried to move her hoof forward, but found that she couldn't. Odd. Her hoof, in fact her whole body felt completely solid. And she felt... lighter and emptier... almost as if she was made of... plastic? Suddenly the ground rumbled, and two giant beings approached. One of them looked like an adult female human and the other a human girl. Good, the first humans Pinkamena would wreak her vengeance upon.

She tried to muster her powers, calling forth from hammerspace lightning, wind, rocks, hammers, dynamite... anything that could crush these humans! Nothing happened. The girl leaned down and picked her up. Pinkamena started to panic, as the giant lifted her far off the ground.

"Mommy look! I found a Pinkie Pie toy! I think it's special edition too! The mane isn't poofy like the other ones!" the girl yelled. "Can I keep it please please please please?" A sense of dread started to build up in Pinkamena.

"Alright just wash it when we get home sweetie." the woman replied.

"Oh this is so neat! I'm gonna braid your mane, then we're gonna have tea parties, then we're gonna watch all your friends in My Little Pony together!" the girl smiled. "Oh and just wait till you meet my dog, Spike!"

Pinkamena tried to yell at the girl to put her down, but found all she could say was, "Let's party together!" or "Let's bake a cupcake!". Brilliant. Just brilliant. Could things get any worse?

"And guess what?! I even have a Pinkie Pie shirt!" The girl angled Pinkamena so she could see the shirt.

Just for a fraction of a second... Pinkamena saw the picture of Pinkie wink at her.


	14. Origins bonus chapter

Warning: you are accessing Alpha level classified material, unauthorized access is punishable by banishment to Tartarus, loss of magic and/or exile

 _This dossier is sole property of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Princess level authority required for viewing._

 **Universe Q15A5 AKA "Mirror Universe"**

Twilight's Notes:

 _This universe has a very curious yet troubling theme. Every creature or being seems to have one or several opposite qualities to its counterpart on our world. This manifests in different ways: personality, motivation, action and experiences. The mirror opposite of Princess Celestia for example, was an agent of disharmony and evil, opposing our Celestia's mission to bring order and morality. Yet Derpy Hooves' opposite was still good in nature, but differed in terms of personality. Still other mirror opposites have had similar past experiences to their counterparts in our world, yet reacted the opposite way. My current theory is that the "opposite" factor is based on the main traits identify a pony. In an effort to understand more about this universe, I have carefully noted what I have found out about the important ponies in this world._

King Sombra:

King Sombra is part of a special race of pony known as "luxum equus" or "light ponies". Luxum culture centers around the magic of love and harmony. Long ago, they were in conflict with the crystal ponies, who worship hatred, anger and war. The crystal ponies were victorious, and managed to seal the luxum underground for 1000 years. The hateful Princess Amore spared only one luxum baby, a foal named Sombra, to see if she could turn even a luxum into a creature of hatred, against its own nature. Sombra was raised in the crystal empire, under their warrior culture, and grew to be a fierce battle mage. He desperately wanted to compete in the event known as "The Crystal Brawl", where crystal ponies would unleash their most primal emotions and engage in a massive pit fight, in order to power up their greatest weapon: the Crystal Sword. This magical weapon was wielded by the Princess herself during times of war, and was said to have the mystical power to show a pony their very soul. Each year it seemed, Sombra would fall ill just before the Crystal Brawl, and thus would be unable to participate, earning him ridicule from all except his training partner, Radiant Hope. In an act of desperation, Sombra snuck into Princess Amore's castle, and peered inside the Crystal Sword. The sword showed him his true nature as a luxum, and his destiny to free his kind. He was quickly discovered by an angry Princess Amore, who told him of his true past, and threatened to destroy him. Instinctually, Sombra raised the Crystal Sword to defend himself. Responding to Sombra's panic, the sword lashed out against its own mistress, and absorbed her essence within it. With the help of Radiant Hope, Sombra managed to escape the Crystal Empire, unfortunately unable to take the sword with him, due to its connection to the Empire. Famed as the pony who defeated the wicked Princess Amore, ponies rallied to Sombra, declaring him a righteous King of Equestria. In a huge battle, Sombra managed to defeat the evil Celestia and free the city of Canterlot. Now under his command, Sir Discord and Radiant Hope lead Sombra's armies against the Crystal Ponies, now led by Amore's descendant Princess Cadence. Sombra hopes that one day he may free the rest of the Luxum, and bring order to Equestria.

Duchess Chrysalis:

Long ago, the Dark Wizard Star Swirl the Shaved destroyed a beautiful tree in an act of rage. His evil magic mixed with remains of the tree, and created a new race of pony: the Changelings. The dark magic gave them a repugnant appearance, however the beauty of the tree gave them pure and true hearts. Over time, the changelings discovered that they had two innate abilities: to change shape, and to spread love magic. Led by the fair and wise Duchess Chrysalis, the changelings see it as their duty to spread the magic of love throughout Equestria. They naturally found themselves in alliance with the newly crowned King Sombra, and under his direction they protect south Equestria from the tyranny of the evil Celestia.

Sir Discord AKA "Captain Goodguy":

Sir Discord claims he is the Spirit of Balance and Harmony. He uses his powerful magic to protect the innocent and stop the forces of evil, under the hero persona "Captain Goodguy". He has a tendency to be dramatic and theatrical, leading to him not always choosing the most convenient or obvious solutions to problems. Currently he has allied himself with King Sombra, and protects northern Equestria. He and Radiant Hope lead Sombra's armies against the Crystal Empire, in an effort to free the Luxum.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Sir Discord, and the Discord of our universe are really one and the same, and this is yet another of Discord's amusements. This theory is unconfirmed, I'll have to ask him next time I see him, though I bet I won't get a direct answer. Either that or he'll turn the castle into a funhouse again until Fluttershy tells him off.

Princess Celestia:

Like in our universe, she controls the Sun and is responsible for raising it and lowering it. At an unknown time, Disharmonic energy took control of her and she began abusing this power, using the sun to make Pegasi cities uninhabitable, dry up crops, and create scorching temperatures. Before King Sombra, she was opposed by her sister Luna, who tried her best to keep Celestia at bay and protect Equestria. Their battles would often create lunar eclipses in the sky, as Luna tried to limit her sister's influence. Eventually, King Sombra managed to send Celestia to exile in the Everfree forest, where she continued to plot against him.

Princess Luna:

Like our Luna, she raises and lowers the moon. Luna was vehemently opposed to her sister's cruelty, and tried her best to protect the citizens of Equestria. She later allied herself with King Sombra, and even appeared to take an... interest in him. However around the time we freed our Luna with the Elements of Harmony, Mirror Luna became evil, and joined her sister. She later claimed it was out of jealousy for Sombra and our Celestia, though there were other factors.

THE VIRTUES

Gilda:

A skilled warrior and flyer. Gilda only ever uses her abilities to help others in need, and dislikes competition or personal glory. For this reason she was named the virtue of temperance by King Sombra. She says she also had a past friendship with Mirror Rainbow Dash, however it ended very badly.

Sunset Shimmer:

The virtue of altruism, Sunset is always willing to lend a hoof to anypony who needs it. She was once the student of Princess Celestia, however she abandoned her studies as she grew disillusioned with Celestia's cruel ways. She now works as a crystal grower in a small town in south Equestria.

Princess Trixie:

As a foal, Trixie possessed very powerful magical abilities beyond any unicorn of her age. Princess Luna took notice of her talents, and took Trixie on as her student. Under Luna, Trixie began to grow more and more powerful as she learned to focus her magic. By age 15, she was already a very accomplished magic user, able to even cast basic age spells and levitate massive objects. One day while visiting the town of Ponyville, Trixie encountered Twilight Sparkle and her criminal gang: the mane six. Twilight brashly boasted of her abilities, using her magic against anyone who stood up to her. Trixie challenged Twilight to a duel, and despite Twilight using dark magic, managed to win. The mane six fled the town, and everypony praised Trixie as a hero. She rejected the praise, stating that she had done what anypony else would've done. Upon saying this, Trixie was teleported to a starry plane, and Princess Luna congratulated her on her triumph and humilty, crowning Trixie Equestria's newest princess.

Derpy Hooves:

An accomplished academic, Derpy represents the virtue of wisdom. She was born in Ponyville, and later moved to Canterlot to complete her studies. Due to an unknown reason, Derpy's eyes look different ways at all times, though she claims to have no trouble seeing.

Maud Pie:

The virtue of good cheer, one will always find her at a party or rock concert. Due to her party lifestyle, Maud rarely helps the other virtues, only doing so when called upon.

Flim and Flam:

Together these two brothers represent the virtue of fairness, and act as head judges in the Equestrian court system. Due to their impartial nature, they rarely involve themselves in conflicts.

THE MANE 6

Twilight Sparkle:

Twilight is a very intelligent, driven and powerful individual. As a foal, she scored top grades and her talent was praised by her teachers. However at home she encountered constant verbal abuse by her perfectionist parents, leading to Twilight developing a deep inferiority complex. She often took out her anger on her brother, Shining Armor, by bullying him with her magic. Twilight later applied to Sombra's Academy for Talented Unicorns, and successfully gained an examination appointment. At the examination, Twilight was asked to hatch a dragon egg, however despite all her talent, Twilight couldn't do it. Desperately looking out the window to avoid her parents' angry stares, Twilight saw a giant rainboom flash across the sky. Reacting to her surprise, Twilight's magic sparked around her horn more powerfully than it ever had before. Instead of turning her magic on the egg, Twilight unleashed her magic on her parents. Before the examiners could stop her, Twilight grabbed the egg and fled the academy. She began a life on the run, vowing to become more powerful than any unicorn in existence to prove her parents wrong. A few years later, Twilight became a career criminal, adopting a band of lackeys and dubbing her gang, "The Mane Six". She also hatched the dragon egg she stole and raised the dragonling to be her loyal assistant and servant, naming him "Spike".

Rainbow Dash:

Rainbow Dash's family was often neglectful, and Rainbow often found herself alone in her youth. Rainbow was often forced to take of herself, and thus developed a belief that she could do everything herself, and needed nopony's help. This translated to a bigger and bigger ego, and a cocky attitude. During flight camp, Rainbow was disgruntled to find that Fluttershy, the slowest pegasus in the group, was her flying partner. One day Rainbow lost her patience, and shoved Fluttershy out of the way. Rainbow raced ahead of the other fliers, pushing herself faster and faster to prove she was the best, until she completed the first ever sonic Rainboom. A few years later, Rainbow tried to join the Wonderbolts, the fastest flying team in Equestria. Despite her skill, Rainbow was rejected as she was ill suited to work on a team due to her disloyalty and massive ego. She later became a career criminal, joining Twilight Sparkle's gang, "The Mane Six".

Fluttershy:

After she was shoved away by Rainbow, the winds blew her toward the ground. Her flying skills were so weak, that she had no choice but to land in a small park nearby. She began to cry, utterly betrayed by her flying partner and left alone. The noise made the nearby animals curious, and so they began crowding around Fluttershy. Overjoyed, Fluttershy beckoned the animals closer to her, hoping that she could finally gain some acceptance. However, she grew more and more frustrated as the animals started to leave one by one. As the sonic rainboom lit up the sky, Fluttershy's anger finally made her snap. She forcefully grabbed the nearest squirrels and [REDACTED]. From then on, Fluttershy decided that nopony would accept her unless she forced them to with cruelty and pain. Later on, her cruel nature led her to become a career criminal and join Twilight Sparkle's "Mane Six" gang.

Rarity:

Much of Rarity's past is unknown, though the time window briefly revealed her parents breaking up. It is possible this is why she seeks emotional relationships with material items rather than ponies. As a filly, Rarity sought to create the perfect costumes for the school play unable to accept them simply being "good". That night, her horn began sparking and dragging her on a long journey, probably toward the gem deposit our world's Rarity found. However she tripped along the way, nearby a small cottage. Investigating the cottage, Rarity found the owners were fast asleep, and they had a sizable gem collection. Inspired by the sonic rainboom, she greedily stole every gem in the house. From then on she became a thief, using her beauty to charm ponies into helping her steal large sums of bits and gems. She later joined Twilight Sparkle's "Mane Six" gang.

Applejack:

Born in Canterlot to the noble Apple family, Applejack rejected her birthright and ran away from home. She found work at a small apple farm near Ponyville, due to her natural talent for bucking trees. A few months into the job, a small time apple seller named Stinkin Rich asked Applejack to sneak him a few apples on the side, and offered her extra money to do so. She agreed, and to her delight found that anytime the owners asked about it, she was easily able to lie and point the blame elsewhere. Eventually the farm became embroiled in controversy over a box of rotted apples accidentally shipped out, due to Applejack slacking off. Seeing her chance, Applejack framed the farm owners for the rotted apples, and took over the farm herself. Later on, Applejack decided join Twilight Sparkle's "Mane Six" gang, so they could help her illegally increase her cider sales.

Pinkamena:

Some things are better left unwritten.


	15. Origins part 2

Starlight Glimmer:

As a foal, Starlight was bitter enemies with a fellow classmate named Sunburst. Sunburst had far superior magical talent, and used it to bully Starlight and make her look weak. This led to Starlight developing a warped perspective on friendship, seeing it as a dynamic of dominance and submission. In an effort never to feel weak again, Starlight started the "Inequality Movement" and preached a dogma of unequal friendship, where one pony's interests would be the focus, rather than a mutual benefit. Unsurprisingly, Starlight cast herself in the role of a dominant friend, and used her magic to reinforce it. She was able to attract several ponies to her cause, some looking for acceptance and others looking for power over others. Rather than starting a village like the Starlight from our world, the Inequality Movement was a mobile operation, giving speeches and recruiting across Equestria.

Though King Sombra refused to endorse the movement, the new Princess of Disharmony, Twilight Sparkle, was more than happy to support it. Most likely she saw this as an ideological victory, promoting the influence of the strong over the weak. Starlight also became Twilight's student, studying dark magic under her and taking care of her old hideout. I encountered her while we hid in the mane six's old lair, and fortunately was able to pass myself off as the currently ruling dark princess. After hearing about her movement, I tried to set her on the right path, encouraging her to try connecting with ponies as an equal rather than imposing herself on them. I only hope that she took my words to heart and has embraced true friendship into her life.

The Cutie Mark Impeders:

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are notorious bullies in Ponyville's school. Most often they target Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara, daughter of a poor local apple salesman, Filthy Rich (A sidenote here: I recently learned that many families in this universe have a tradition of giving their foals ironic names, contrary to their destinies. This may explain why despite their destinies being opposite, many ponies have the same name as their counterpart in our Equestria). Their teacher Cheerilee often turns a blind eye to their bullying, stating several times that she simply does not care what happens to those "miserable foals" (it is worth noting that she has been deemed one of the cruelest teachers in Equestria, and has narrowly avoided getting her teaching license taken away several times).

Impatient that their cutie marks were slow to come, these juvenile delinquents decided to form their own club based around cutie marks. But rather than trying to get their own marks, they took out their anger on others, doing everything in their power to make sure other foals _didn't_ get their cutie marks. This includes wrecking talent shows, bullying other foals out of performing their talents and even tricking foals into fearing their cutie mark. They are consistently caught doing petty crimes such as theft and vandalism.

Eventually they earned their own cutie marks: black shields with red X's on them. They see it as their destiny to continue keeping foals from gaining their cutie marks, and have even begun to see cutie marks as an evil and unnecessary part of pony society.

* * *

Notes on the Opposite Human World:

After Mirror-Derpy's mention of an opposite to the human world, I began research into what this world may be like. Originally, I expected it to be similar to the human world I know, with a Canterlot High School and city. My hypothesis was that roles would be switched, and our human counterparts would be bullies, while others like Trixie would be more amiable.

The truth was far worse. This opposite human world is a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, dominated by hatred and anger instead of friendship. I barely escaped back through the mirror to my world. Despite my initial near-fatal encounter, I was able to magically project my spirit back through the portal, to observe the lives of our opposite human counterparts. The acts I saw were so depraved, that I have taken a memory potion to forget them, and I refuse to write them here.

If anything, this made me truly aware of the differences between ponies and humans. Humans have a high penchant for extremes. While they are capable of deep and powerful friendships they also are capable of immense destruction and violence. I cannot say that I will see my Canterlot High friends the same way ever again, as I now understand that despite our friendship, they are still a different species from a different world and I must remember that.

For now I am shutting down this research and I have decided to only use my portal to access the world of Canterlot High School. The multiverse is a place of wondrous opportunity and discovery, but is also a place of danger and depravity. Only now am I truly beginning to understand the implications of an existence where every timeline that can happen, will happen. They do not bear thinking about.

I guess the multiverse is sort of like the dynamic between Pinkie Pie and Pinkamena. You can choose to view it positively: as a place of infinite possibility, or negatively: as a place of horror and cruelty. In the end both views are two sides of the same coin, reflections on either side of a mirror.

 _Twilight Sparkle_


End file.
